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THE SCRIPTURE HISTORY 

OF 

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JESUS CHRIST: 



ARRANGED TO ILLUSTRATE 



HIS DIVINITY, DOCTRINE AND MISSION, 



BY 

M. B. STERLING CLARK, 
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Nsfo fork: 
DANIEL DANA, JR., 

381 BROADWAY. 




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.G57 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, 

By Daniel Dana, Jr., 

In the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court for the 

Southern District of New York. 



NEW YORK : 
BILLIN AND BROTHER, PRINTERS, 
XX, NORTH WILLIAM ST. * 



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TO 

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BY 

ONE OF HEE GEATEFUL ADOPTED 
DAUGHTEES. 



PREFACE 



The object of this little work is to illustrate, in a 
simple and concise way, the Life, Teachings and 
Divinity of our blessed Lord, and the strict fidelity 
of the Church to these " first principles." It is de- 
signed, and in the opinion of judicious friends hap- 
pily arranged, for the instruction of the young and 
those who have neither time nor means to devote to 
an extended study of the great subjects of which it 
treats ; while to all classes of readers it will be a 
useful manual, on account e>f the clearness and sim- 
plicity with which it unfolds the leading doctrines 
of our faith. The Scriptural argument for our Sa- 
viour's Divinity, especially, is as complete, compact 
and convincing as it is possible to comprise in the 
same space. 

The style is purposely plain and simple, and the 
language, as far as practicable, that of the Holy 
Scriptures ; as being in itself the most suitable, and 
the best every way to be treasured up in the minds 
of the young and the old. 

A brief private history of this little book, it is 
hoped, will give Christian readers an interest in its 
perusal and circulation. Most of its material was 
first prepared for the private instruction of a Sun- 



6 PREFACE. 

day-School Class in a small village in Jefferson 
County, New York, where, until recently, services 
of the Church had never been held. The authoress, 
herself brought by a gracious Providence to love 
these privileges, was led, by her anxious care for 
these lambs in the wilderness, to devote her leisure 
hours to the preparation of a simple compend, to 
aid them to appreciate, as she did, the wonderful 
life, character and doctrines of their Saviour. 

Meanwhile, through these and other efforts in 
this community, there was growing up a desire for 
the ministrations of the Church, which resulted in 
the establishment of regular missionary services, 
and the gathering together of an interesting congre 
gation, of whom fifteen are new communicants. 

Then followed the desire for a little Church of 
their own. This suggested the idea of reconstruct- 
ing and publishing the old manuscript, with the 
hope that from its profits a sufficient sum might be 
secured to lay the foundation of a House sacred to 
Prayer. With this purpose and mission, and the 
hope that it may encourage some wanderer to keep 
the faith, it is now sent forth to the Christian world. 
And to this end it is recommended to the public by 
the author's friend and pastor, 

THEODORE BABCOCK. 



Rectory of Trinity Church, Watertown, 
Western New York, Epiphany, 1860. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Divinity of Jesus Christ 9 

II. The Birth and Childhood of Jesus 16 

III. Baptism and Public Ministry of Our Saviour. 34 

IV. The Miracles of Our Lord 42 

V. Continuation of Our Lord's Miracles and Doc- 
trines , 50 

VI. Continuation of Our Lord's Ministry 58 

VII. The Closing of Our Lord's Public Ministry . . 68 

VIII. The Account of Our Saviour's Crucifixion... 90 

IX. The Resurrection of Our Lord 119 



THE SOEIPTUEB 

HISTORY OF JESUS CHEIST, 



CHAPTER I. 

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHEIST, OUR SAYIOUE. 

God created heaven and earth ; He said, Let 
there be light, and there was light. He made 
the evening and the morning. He gathered the 
waters together, and called them seas ; the dry 
land He called earth, and he caused it to bring 
forth the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree 
yielding fruit after his kind. He made the sun, 
moon, and the stars. He created every living 
thing that moveth in the deep, and the winged 



10 THE HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

fowl that fly above the earth. He created every 
living creature on the earth, the cattle, and creep- 
ing things, and beasts. 

Then God said, Let us make Man in our 
image, after our likeness. Here God spoke to 
His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, begotten 
before all worlds, whom He hath appointed 
heir of all things, by whom also He made the 
worlds, and of whom God said, Let all the 
angels of God worship him ; and to this Son 
He said, Thy throne, God, is for ever and 
ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre 
of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness 
and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy 
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of glad- 
ness above thy fellows. 

He spake here also to the Holy Ghost, the 
Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from 
the Father and the Son, who with the Father 
and the Son together, is worshipped and glori- 
fied, who spake by the prophets of old, who 
descended in the likeness of a dove upon Jesus 
at His baptism ; the Comforter that Christ prom- 
ised to send, that would reprove the world of 



THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 11 

sin, of righteousness, and of judgment ; the 
Spirit of Truth, that Christ promised should 
come and lead His followers into all truth, that 
would show them things to come, and that 
would glorify Christ, the only begotten Son of 
the Father. 

This Son, St. John says, was in the begin- 
ning with God. Ay, he says this Son was with 
God, and this Son was God, and that by Him 
were all things made ; and as if to make it still 
stronger, he adds, And without the Son was not 
any thing made that was made. St. John calls 
this Son the Word ; and, that there could be no 
doubt of the meaning of it, he says, The Word 
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we 
beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Be- 
gotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 
And he says in another place, There are three 
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the 
Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are 
One. 

When Adam and Eve were lost by sin, God 
in pity promised a Saviour, even Christ, "the 
Seed of a woman." 



12 THE HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

About two thousand years after, the Lord 
appeared unto Abraham, and commanded him 
to walk before Him and be perfect, and prom- 
ised to make him a father of nations, and of 
kings, promised him the land of Canaan for his 
inheritance, and that in his seed should all the 
nations of the earth be blessed. From Abraham 
was to spring the promised Seed, the Shiloh, 
the Messiah, our Saviour. 

About two hundred years after, Jacob speci- 
fied the tribe of which our Saviour should be 
born, namely, the tribe of Judah ; and the time, 
namely, before the sceptre and a law-giver 
should depart from Judah. The Lord swore 
unto David that his seed should endure forever, 
and his throne as the days of heaven. 

David says, " The Lord said unto my Lord, 
Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine 
enemies thy footstool." Here the Lord, the 
Great Jehovah, speaks unto the Son, David's 
Lord, that should be His offspring in the flesh, 
and said, Sit thou on my right hand, even as 
we know that Jesus Christ now sits at the right 
hand of God. 



THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 13 

Again, " The Lord hath sworn, and will not 
repent. Thou art a priest forever, after the 
order of Melchizedek." This refers to Jesus 
Christ, and shows that the coming Messiah was 
to unite in His person the offices of King and 
Priest. The Messiah could not be a priest after 
Aaron's order ; for He was to be born of David. 
But He was to be a priest after the order of 
Melchizedek, King of Salem, and Priest of the 
.Most High God, who blessed Abraham, and 
brought forth bread and wine to him — the very 
same that Christ appointed as the memorials of 
his body and bipod. Melchizedek was the only 
priest of the True God, of whom we have any 
knowledge, before Aaron. He was without 
predecessor or successor, as St. Paul says, with- 
out father, without mother, without descent, 
having neither beginning of days nor end of life ; 
but made like unto the Son of God. 

Isaiah says, " There shall come forth a rod 
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall 
grow out of his roots." He said, speaking of 
the Messiah's birth, " Unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given ; and the government 



14 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall 
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty 
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of 
Peace. Of the increase of his government and 
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of 
David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and 
to establish it with judgment and with justice 
from henceforth even forever. 

Jeremiah prophesies, " Behold the days come, 
saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a 
righteous branch, and a King shall reign and 
prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice 
in the earth. In His days, Juclah shall be saved, 
and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his 
name whereby He shall be called— the Lord our 
Righteousness y 

Micah says : " Thou Bethlehem Bphratah, 
though thou be little among the thousands of 
Judah, yet out of thee shall One come forth 
unto me that is -to be ruler in Israel; whose 
goings forth have been from of old, from everlast- 
ing." 

The Old Testament Scriptures taught that 
the Messiah was to be born of a virgin in Beth- 



BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 15 

lehem, of the house of David, son of Jesse, of 
the tribe of Judah, descendant of Jacob, Isaac, 
and Abraham, all of which was exactly fulfilled. 
The first promise of the coming of our Saviour 
was given to our first parents. The next prom- 
ise was given to Abraham, about two thousand 
years before His coming. The paschal lamb, 
the type of our Saviour as the Lamb of God 
that taketh away the sin of the world, was first 
slain about fifteen hundred years before He 
appeared on earth. The prophets foretold His 
eoming many hundred years before His advent ; 
and the last prophet of the Jewish dispensation 
wrote about four hundred years before the 
Christian era. 



Id THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER H. 



THE BIETH AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. 



In the year four thousand, Caesar Augustus 
gave out a decree that all the world should be 
taxed. Bach family went to their own city. 
Joseph took Mary and went to Bethlehem, be- 
cause they were of the lineage of David. So 
many had gathered there that the inns could 
give them no lodgings, and they rested in a 
stable. Our Saviour was born in a stable, and 
cradled in a manger. The Son of God, equal 
with God, whose goings forth were from ever- 
lasting, in whom were centred the hopes of a 
fallen world, for whom Moses was faithful in all 
his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those 
things which were to be spoken after, whom 
the prophets of old revealed to man, the real 
High Priest of whom the great king of Salem 
and the high priest of the true God was but a 



„ 



BIKTH AND CHILDHOOD. 17 

type, the descendant of the most illustrious 
kings of the earth, David and Solomon, made 
himself of no reputation, and was made in the 
likeness of man, and humbled himself to be 
born of a virgin in a lowly place, too mean for 
the abode of man. 

But the angels of heaven watched over him, 
and brought the glad tidings to earth. An 
angel of the Lord came to the shepherds, as 
they were keeping watch over their flocks by 
night, and the glory of the Lord shone around 
about them, and they were sore afraid. But 
the angel said unto them, " Fear not, for behold 
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall 
be to all people. For unto you is born this day, 
in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ 
the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you : 
ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling 
clothes, lying in a manger." The first announce- 
ment of our Saviour's birth was made to shep- 
herds, even as the first promise was given to 
shepherds of old, Abraham, Moses, and David. 

After the announcement, suddenly there was 

with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host 
2* 



18 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward 
men. This song of the angels the Church ever 
echoes in her Gloria in excelsis. 

When the angels were gone away into heaven, 
the shepherds went to Bethlehem, and there 
found the babe in the manger. When they saw 
the child, they made known abroad the marvel- 
lous things they had seen and heard ; and they 
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the 
things that they had heard and seen, as it was 
told unto them. 

When the child was eight days old, he was 
made a member of the Jewish Church established 
by the direct words of God. God commanded 
His priests to receive little children into His 
Church, even at the tender age of eight days, 
under the awful penalty of cutting off from His 
people the soul that was uncircumcised. Here 
children, by the direct instructions of God, be- 
came children of His family by adoption, chil- 
dren of His covenant, before they were old 
enough to choose between good and evil. 

At the time for the circumcising of the child, 



BIETH AND CHILDHOOD. 19 

he was called Jesus, the name given by the 
angel of the Lord before his conception. Jesus, 
as the name given to the Messiah, signified 
Jehovah, the Saviour, or Jehovah-Salva- 
tion" ; for He should save His people from their 
sins. Isaiah foretold that "the Lord himself 
shall give you (the house of David) a sign ; be- 
hold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, 
and shall call His name Immanuel, which, being 
interpreted, is, God with us" 

At the end of forty days, the time of the pur- 
ification being over, Joseph and Mary brought 
Jesus to the Temple, to present Him to the 
Lord ; (according to the law of the Lord, every 
male that openeth the womb shall be called 
holy to the Lord ;) and to offer the necessary 
oblation to redeem Him. They were too poor 
to offer a lamb, as the law required of all those 
who were able to offer it, and they consequently 
offered a pair of turtle-doves, or two young 
pigeons. Well, indeed, may we look "upon the 
dove as a sacred emblem ; for was it not the 
dove that brought the olive leaf to Noah ? 
Mary offered doves when she presented Jesus 



20 THE HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

to the Lord in the Holy Temple, and the Holy 
Spirit descended from heaven like a dove, and 
abode upon our Saviour at His baptism. 

There was a man in Jerusalem named 
Simeon; he was a just, devout man, and the 
Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was re- 
vealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he 
should not see death, before he had seen the 
Lord's Christ, or the Anointed, the Promised 
Messiah. He came by the Spirit into the Tem- 
ple ; and when the parents brought in the child 
Jesus, he took Him in his arms, and blessed 
God, and said, " Lord, now lettest thou Thy 
servant depart in peace, according to Thy word , 
for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation, which 
Thou hast prepared before the face of all people ; 
a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory 
of Thy people Israel." Simeon blessed them, 
and said to Mary, " Behold, this child is set for 
the fall and rising again of many in Israel ; and 
for a sign which shall be spoken against ; (yea, 
a sword shall pierce through thy own soul 
also ;) that the thoughts of many hearts may be 
revealed. And at this instant, Anna, the pure 



BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 21 

prophetess of fourscore and four years, that 
departed not from the Temple, but served God 
continually with fastings and prayers, perceived 
by the Holy Spirit that this holy child was 
Jesus, the Immanuel, God in the flesh. She, 
too, gave thanks to God, and spoke of Him to all 
who looked for redemption in Israel. 

Jesus was born in the days of King Herod, 
and there came from the East, Magi, or wise 
men, to worship Jesus, the King of the Jews, 
who was to reign over all nations, according to 
the sure prophecies of old. They went to Herod 
and inquired where they should find the King 
of the Jews ; they told- him they had seen His 
star in the East, and had come to worship Him. 
When Herod heard these things, he was greatly 
troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. He 
immediately gathered the scribes and chief 
priests together, and demanded of them where 
Christ should be born. They told him, in 
Bethlehem of Judea. Then Herod privately 
summoned the wise men to his presence, and 
inquired particularly about the time the star 
appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, and 



22 THE HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

told them to search diligently for trie child; 
and, when they found Him, to inform him, so 
that he could go to worship Him, too. 

After listening to the king's instructions, 
they took their departure, and the star that 
they saw in the east went before them, and 
stood over where the young child was. They 
rejoiced with exceeding great joy when they 
saw the star. When they came into the house, 
they saw the child and the mother, and fell 
down and worshipped Him. They opened their 
treasures, and gave him gifts of gold, frankin- 
cense, and myrrh. God warned them in a 
dream not to return to Herod, and they re- 
turned to their own country by another way. 
After their departure, the angel of the Lord 
appeared to Joseph in a dream, and bade him, 
Arise, and take the young child and His mother 
and flee into Egypt, and remain there until he 
brought him word ; for Herod would seek the 
child's life. Joseph arose, and took them by 
night on their way to Egypt. They remained 
there until the death of Herod. When Herod 
saw that the wise men did not obey his instruo- 



BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 23 

tions, he was exceeding wroth, and sent forth 
and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem 
and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old 
and under, according to the time he had in- 
quired of the wise men. Here were the first 
martyrs slain for Jesus. " These were redeemed 
from among men, being the first-fruits unto 
God, and to the Lamb. And in their mouth 
was found no guile, for they were without fault 
before the throne of God." 

At the death of Herod, the angel of the Lord 
recalled Joseph and Mary to their own country, 
but Joseph, still fearing for the safety of the 
young child, turned aside and dwelt in the city 
of Nazareth. The child grew and waxed strong 
in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of 
God was upon Him. 

At the age of twelve years, Jesus went up to 
Jerusalem, to the annual feast of the Passover, 
with Mary and Joseph ; and when they re- 
turned, He remained behind in the holy temple, 
sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them 
and asking and answering questions, and all 
were astonished at His understanding and 



24 THE HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

answers. Mary and Joseph missed Him, and 
after three days found Him there. His mother 
said, Son, why hast Thou dealt thus with us ? 
Behold, we have sought Thee sorrowing. But 
He also, anticipating His holy calling, answered, 
Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's 
business ? They understood not the holy mis- 
sion that brought Him to this world. 

After this He went back to Nazareth with 
Mary and Joseph, and was subject unto them, 
thus adding new force to the fifth commandment 
by His obedience to His parents. Jesus, although 
the Son of God, submitted to the rite of circum- 
cision, and thereby became a child of the cov- 
enant, a member of the Church upon earth. He 
was again taken to the temple and presented to 
the Lord at the purification of the Virgin Mary. 
At a proper age He went up to the great feast. 
He came to His own temple, even as Malachi 
prophesied ; He knew all things, and by Him 
were all things made ; still He listened to the 
doctors respectfully, and asked and answered 
questions in a child-like manner, though His 
wisdom astonished all that heard Him. 



BIKTH AND CHILDHOOD. 25 

He saw the corruptions of the Jewish Church. 
He saw that the whole creation groaned and 
travailed in pain ; He beheld in the future the 
glorious dispensation of the Gospel, which would 
abolish death, and bring life and immortality to 
light ; but yet He quietly and patiently waited 
for His time to come. The only record we have 
of His life, from twelve years old until His bap- 
tism, is, that He increased in wisdom and stature, 
and in favor with God and man. These eighteen 
years of His life were spent in obscurity, and in 
performing all common duties and labors in a 
manner becoming His perfect character. 

When we consider this part of our Saviour's 
life, how can we murmur because our calling is 
humble and our advantages few? When we 
realize that Christ our Lord left heaven to dwell 
upon earth for our salvation, we ought to wel- 
come every trial, and any life, even the most 
monotonous, and any clime or home, whether 
among the red men of the forest, in the crowded 
city, or in the most obscure spot upon earth, if 
it is God's will to place us there. 

If we love Jesus truly ; if we are His follow- 



26 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

ers in spirit as in name, we shall possess that 
zeal and faith which made martyrs of old "sink 
down upon a bed of coals, as if it were a bed of 
roses," which made the encircling flames more 
welcome than love's fond embrace. This love 
of Jesus will make the golden crowns of earth 
turn to dross before the heavenly crowns unseen. 
It will make earthly honors undesired, and fame 
of no worth. It will teach us to look above the 
wealth of a world to our treasures laid up in 
heaven. It will make the great men of earth 
of no account, and their praise or censure of less 
import than the idle wind. It will make this 
earth grow smaller and smaller, until it becomes 
a mere speck in the vast universe, and its in- 
habitants but mere atoms of the dust. But it 
will make us earnestly desire to have even the 
lowest and meanest creature brought to the 
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ in this world, and to life everlasting in 
the world to come. 

If we are friends of Jesus, if we love Him, 
we must do whatsoever He has commanded us 
to do, without consulting our own feelings or 



BIKTH AND CHILDHOOD. 27 

preferences. He has commanded us to love one 
another ; to repent and he baptized every one of us 
for the remission of sins ; to eat of His body which 
was given for us, and to drink of His blood which 
was shed for us ; and that we should love the Lord 
our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, 
and with all our mind. We must believe on the 
Son, if we would have everlasting life ; for we 
read in St. John: "He that believeth not the 
Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of God 
abideth on him." Like the Apostles, we must 
be sure that He is the Christ the Son of the 
living God. 

If we love Jesus, we must love His bride, the 
Church ; for Christ is the Head of the Church ; 
and so great was His love that He gave Himself 
for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with 
the washing of water by the word; and He 
continually nourishes and cherishes it, and has 
promised to be with it even unto the end of the 
world ; and then He will present it to Himself 
a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, 
or any such thing ; but it will be holy and with- 
out blemish. 



28 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Without the Church, we could not obey the 
commands of Jesus to wash away our sins by 
the waters of baptism ; neither could we par- 
take of the Lord's Supper in remembrance of 
Him, and we should have no preachers sent to 
preach the Gospel of peace and glad tidings of 
good things. St. Paul says: "How shall they 
call upon the Lord in whom they have not be- 
lieved? and how shall they believe in Him of 
whom they have not heard ? and how shall they 
hear without a preacher? and how shall they 
preach, except they be sent?" 

God, in His infinite wisdom, established the 
Church under the Mosaic dispensation, which 
was a shadow of heavenly things, and a type of 
the Christian dispensation which was to follow. 
The tabernacle was a shadow of the true taber- 
nacle which the Lord pitched, not man. The 
veil in the inner temple was a type of the flesh 
of Christ, and was rent in twain from the top to 
the bottom when He expired upon the cross. 

There were, by divine appointment, seasons 
set apart for religious worship, for commemo- 
rating certain events, and to keep constantly 



BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 29 

before His people their obligations to God. 
Their weekly feast — the Sabbath — was kept for 
the creation of the world, for the wonderful 
deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and as 
a perpetual covenant between God and them. 
Their yearly feast of the Passover was to com- 
memorate the fearful night in Egypt when the 
angel of death passed over the families of Israel, 
and smote the first-born of every Egyptian. 

The feast of Pentecost was kept in remem- 
brance of the giving of the law fifty days after 
the Passover. They had the feast of New 
Moons, the feast of Expiation, and many other 
sacred seasons. 

Under the Christian dispensation, the Church 
appointed and still observes certain days to com- 
memorate its great events, and to keep the life of 
our Saviour ever before His followers ; and still 
has its ecclesiastical as well as civil year. The 
sacred year of the Jews commenced in the month 
in which the Passover was celebrated, answer- 
ing to our month of April. The civil year com- 
menced from the first new moon of October. 

The Christian Church commences its sacred 
3* 



30 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

year at Advent, about four weeks before Christ- 
mas. The Gospel and Epistle, and also the Col- 
lect, for each Sunday in Advent, are arranged 
in such a manner as to direct our thoughts to 
the advent or comino; of Jesus Christ in the last 
day, when he shall come again in His glorious 
majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead. 
Then comes Christmas Day, when the Church 
is- decked with her wreaths of evergreen, and 
the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together 
beautify the place of the sanctuary, and her 
children 

" Carol joyfully, 
Carol the good tidings," 

"Speed the grateful sound, 
Telling ■ Merry Christmas/ 
All the world around." 

Then the Church bids them remember St. Ste- 
phen, the first glorious martyr, teaching them 
that they must rejoice in the birth of our Savi- 
our, and, like St. Stephen, cheerfully lay down 
their life for Jesus. She next calls upon them 
to remember St. John, the Evangelist, whom 
Jesus loved, and to whom Jesus on the cross 
gave the charge of his mother, saying to her, 



BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 31 

Woman, behold thy Son ! and to the disciple, 
Behold thy mother ! 

Then, on the 28th of December, the Church 
points to the little martyrs, who were slain in 
Herod's wrath. The first day of the New Year 
commemorates the circumcision of our Saviour 
Jesus Christ. The sixth of January is the 
Epiphany, or manifestation of Christ to the 
Gentiles, made in the visit of the Magi, or wise 
men, to Jesus. The second of February, forty 
days after Christmas, is the day Mary and Jo- 
seph presented Christ in the temple, at the time 
of her purification, when she offered a sacrifice 
of a pair of turtle doves. 

The next month brings the Lenten season of 
forty days' fasting and retirement from the busy 
world, when we give up our thoughts more 
especially to holy meditation, to the examina- 
tion of our former lives, to renewed devotion, 
repentance and charity, and to following our 
Saviour through His forty days of fasting and 
temptation in the wilderness, through His works 
of love and charity, and His gracious miracles. 
We take with Him the Last Supper, go with 



32 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Him into the Mount of Olives, abide in Gethse- 
mane while He prays, behold His agony and 
bloody sweat, follow Him to the cross and to 
His burial ; and then wait for His resurrection 
on the joyful Easter morn, the Queen of days. 

The Passover for hundreds of years pointed 
to the death of our Saviour as the Lamb of God 
that should take away the sins of the world. 
Good Friday keeps up the memory of His death 
and His sacrifice completed. And Easter Day 
commemorates His glorious resurrection, and is 
the Christian's great Passover feast. 

Christ said, When the Bridegroom should be 
taken away, then should His disciples fast ; and 
the Church set apart the very appropriate num- 
ber of forty days for this purpose. Forty days 
it rained until the earth was covered, and 
every living thing perished, except the precious 
freight of the Ark. Moses fasted forty days 
when he received the Commandments. Elijah 
fasted forty days when he fled from the fury of 
Jezebel. The Ninevites fasted as long, repent- 
ing in sackcloth and ashes. And our Saviour's 
fasting forty days consecrated the number. 



BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 33 

Then comes Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday, 
just forty days after Easter; for our Saviour 
was on earth forty days after the Besurrection, 
and then ascended into heaven; therefore we 
call it Ascension day. He was crucified on 
Good Friday, was raised from the dead on Sun- 
day, which we keep as the Lord's day, instead 
of the old Jewish Sabbath. The next great 
feast day is Whiisun-Day, which was the Jewish 
Pentecost, which was also the day of the coming 
of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. 

After keeping a particular day for the Holy 
Spirit, and many for Jesus the Son, we then set 
apart a day for the glorious Trinity. From this 
date the several Sundays following take their 
names, as the first Sunday after Trinity, and so 
on to twenty or more. During the year, we 
have various days here and there in remem- 
brance of the Apostles, that we may ever keep 
in mind their holy zeal and their doctrines, and, 
following their steps, may steadfastly walk in 
the way that leadeth to eternal life, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 



34 HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BAPTISM AND PUBLIC MINISTEY OF OUR SAVIOUE. 

On the banks of the Jordan stood John the 
Baptist, with his raiment of camels' hair, and a 
leathern girdle round his loins. This was the 
messenger sent to prepare the way of the Lord, 
that should be of the spirit of Elijah. Jesus, 
the meek and lowly, came to him to receive 
baptism. But John said, I have need to be 
baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me ? Je- 
sus answered, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it 
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then 
John baptized Him, and when He went up 
straightway out of the water, Lo, the heavens 
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of 
God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
Jesus ; and Lo, a voice from heaven pronounced 
these words, This is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased. 



BAPTISM AND PUBLIC MINISTKY. 35 

The next day after this baptism, John the 
Baptist, and two of his disciples stood looking 
upon Jesus, and John exclaimed, Behold the 
Lamb of God ! These disciples immediately 
followed Jesus, so great was their faith. One of 
these disciples, Andrew, remained a day with 
Jesus, and then went to bring Peter to see 
Jesus, telling Peter that he had indeed found 
the Messiah ; they then returned to their voca- 
tion, until Jesus called them to be his Apostles, 
about a year afterward. 

Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilder- 
ness. He fasted forty days and forty nights in 
a barren desert, with wild beasts around Him, 
and was tempted by the devil. His human 
nature craved food, and the adversary tempted 
Him to command stones to be made bread ; 
but He overcame the pangs of hunger, and 
answered, Man shall not live by bread alone, 
but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God. 

Then Satan took Him up on the pinnacle 
of the Temple, and said, If thou be the 
Son of God, cast thyself down ; for it is written, 



86 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

He shall give His angels charge concern- 
ing Thee, and in their hands they shall bear 
Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot 
against a stone. Jesus said unto* him, It is 
written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord 
thy God. 

Here we see Jesus, the Son of God, would do 
nothing presumptuous or unnecessary, even to 
prove His divinity and display His power. 
Then how dare we, poor miserable sinners, 
throw aside prudence and reverence, and madly 
rush into temptation and trials uncalled for,, 
under pretence of doing God great service ? 

As a last trial, the devil took Him into an 
exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all 
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of 
them, and said, All these things will I give Thee 
if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then 
Jesus said, Get thee behind me, Satan ; for it is 
written,, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the 
devil left Him, and behold, angels came and 
ministered unto Him. 

Soon after this, He went to Galilee, and from 



BAPTISM AND PUBLIC MINISTRY. 37 

there to Nazareth, the place where He was 
brought up. He went into the synagogue on 
the Sabbath, as usual, and stood up to read ; 
the minister gave Him the book of Isaiah, and 
He took it, and found the sixty-first chapter, 
where it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is 
upon me, because He hath anointed me to 
preach the Gospel to the poor ; He hath 
sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach 
deliverance to captives, and recovering of sight 
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are 
bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the 
Lord. He closed the book, gave it again to the 
minister, and sat down. Every eye was fastened 
upon Him; and He began to say unto them, 
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 
And all bare Him witness, and wondered at the 
gracious words which proceeded out of His 
mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's 
son ? And He said, Ye will surely say unto me, 
Physician heal thyself; whatsoever we have 
heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy 
country. And He said, Verily I say unto you, 
No prophet is accepted in his own country. 



38 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in 
Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven 
was shut up three years and six months, when 
great famine was throughout all the land ; but 
unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto 
Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was. 
a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in 
the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of 
them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 
When they heard these things, all that were in 
the synagogue were filled with wrath, and rose 
up, to thrust Him out of the city, and led Him 
unto the brow of the hill, whereon the city was 
built, that they might cast Him down headlong. 
It is supposed that He was carried, by the press 
of the infuriated mob, at least a mile from the 
city, to a perpendicular rock about fifty feet 
high, and that they intended to cast him down 
this precipice, where destruction would have 
been inevitable. But He passed through the 
midst of them unharmed, and went His way. 
He then came to Capernaum to dwell, and 
began to preach repentance, and that the king- 
dom of heaven was at hand. 



BAPTISM AND PUBLIC MINISTRY. 39 

At this time our Saviour called some of His 
Apostles to be with. Him, to hear His words, to 
witness His miracles, to preach the Gospel, that 
they might afterwards build up His Church ; 
for the Church is built upon the foundation of 
the Apostles* and Prophets, Jesus Christ being 
the chief corner-stone. 

Jesus went about Galilee preaching the Gos- 
pel of the kingdom, teaching in the Synagogues, 
healing the sick and palsied, the lunatics, and 
those possessed with devils. Multitudes followed 
him from Galilee, Decapolis, from Jerusalem, 
from Judea, and from Jordan. Christ seeing 
the multitudes, went up into a mountain, and 
when He was set, His disciples came unto Him, 
and He gave them those remarkable instructions, 
which are generally designated as the sermon on 
the mount. This sermon is the old table of laws 
and commandments, amplified and illustrated 
with their various applications, spiritually dis- 
cerned and traced by the hand of Divinity. The 
table of the Laws, written by the finger of God, 
is the tree of life ; and this sermon, given to the 



40 HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

world by His only begotten Son, is the ripe and 
perfect fruit. 

What can be more comforting and encourag- 
ing, and heavenly, than the eight Beatitudes? 
What coulji make the Apostles feel their great 
mission more, than to know that they were the 
salt of the earth, the light of the world? He 
taught them to let their light so shine before 
men, that they, seeing their good works, might 
glorify God. The same lesson applies to us. We 
are not to boast of our good works to glorify our- 
selves, but to let our light so shine that men will 
glorify God. He taught them to pluck out the 
eye, or cut off the right hand, if it offended them, 
rather than have the whole body cast into hell ; 
meaning that they must break every idol of the 
heart, give up every plan or pursuit, even the 
dearest thing of earth, if it should interfere with 
the great interest of the soul, or be a stumbling- 
block to their weaker brethren. He taught them 
to resist evil, to love their neighbors as them- 
selves, to bless their enemies, to do good to them 
that persecuted them, to do their alms in secret, 
to pray in their closets, to use the Lord's prayer 



BAPTISM AND PUBLIC MINISTRY. 41 

whenever they prayed, to fast in secret,. to for- 
give as they would be forgiven, to lay up treas- 
ures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
doth corrupt, to seek first the kingdom of God 
and His righteousness, and to judge not, lest 
they be judged. He told* them to ask and they 
should receive, to seek and they should find, to 
knock and it should be opened unto them, to 
do unto others as they would have others do 
unto them, to enter in at the strait gate and 
shun the broad road of destruction, and to 
beware of false prophets. He taught them that 
it is not everv one that saith unto Him, Lord, 
Lord, that shall enter into the kingdom of Hea- 
ven ; but he that doeth the will of God. The 
people were astonished ; for He taught doctrines 
as one having authority. 
4* 



42 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE MIBACLES OF CTCE LOED. 



In Cana of Galilee there was a marriage, to 
which, the mother of Jesus was invited, and 
Jesus and His disciples were also guests. There 
was a lack of wine, and Mary went directly to 
Jesus, and told Him there was no wine, believ- 
ing that He was able to provide it for them. 
After stating the fact to Jesus, she bade the ser- 
vants follow His commands. Jesus ordered the 
servants to fill six watering-pots, that held two 
or three firkins, with water ; they filled them 
to the brim, and then He told them to draw out 
the wine and take it to the governor of the feast. 

Xow the governor, or ruler of the feast, was 
an officer appointed to direct the servants and 
have charge of the whole ceremony of the table 
during a feast. The most skilful, agreeable and 
entertaining person was selected, and after the 



THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 43 

feast was ended he mingled with the guests. 
One of his duties was to taste of the wine, that 
he might bring it to the guests according to its 
merit. He knew nothing of the miracle, and 
when he had tasted it he called the bridegroom 
and said to him, Every man at the beginning 
doth set forth good wine ; and when men have 
well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou 
hast kept the good wine until now. This was 
the first of Christ's miracles ; here the disciples 
saw His power, and believed on Him. 

After this he went to Capernaum, with His 
mother, brothers and disciples. He then went 
to Jerusalem to the Passover. In the Temple 
He found men selling oxen, sheep and doves, 
and saw there the money-changers. He made a 
scourge of small cords and drove them all out 
of the Temple, poured out the money and over- 
threw the tables, and told those that sold doves 
to take them away ; and He said to all, Make 
not my Father's house a house of merchandise. 
The Jews seeing this doubtless believed Him to 
be Christ, and asked of Him a sign to prove His 
divinity. Our Saviour answered, Destroy this 



44 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Temple, and I will raise it again in three days ; 
meaning His body, and foretelling His death and 
resurrection. But the Jews said, It took forty- 
six years to build the Temple, and wilt thou 
rear it in three days? At another time the 
Jews asked for a sign, and Jesus told them that 
no sign should be given them except the sign 
of the prophet Jonah ; for as Jonah was three 
days and three nights in the whale's belly, so 
shall the Son of Man be three days and three 
nights in the heart of the earth. 

A certain nobleman's son of Capernaum was 
very sick. When the nobleman heard that 
Jesus was in Galilee, he went to Him and be- 
sought Him to heal his son, who was lying at 
the point of death. Jesus said, Except ye see 
signs and wonders ye will not believe. But the 
nobleman said, Sir, come down, ere my child 
die. Jesus said unto him, Gro thy way, thy son 
liveth. And the man believed, and went his 
way. As he was going home his servants met 
him, and brought the joyful news of his son's 
recovery. He inquired what hour the fever left 
him, and found it was the seventh hour of the 



THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 45 

day previous: then lie knew that it was the 
same hour that Jesus said unto him, Thy son 
liveth ; and he believed on Jesus, and so did all 
his household. 

After preaching in the Synagogue at Naza- 
reth and Capernaum, casting out unclean spirits 
and devils, having turned water into wine, and 
healing the nobleman's son, the multitude 
pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, as 
He stood upon the shore of Lake Grennesaret, or 
the Sea of Tiberias, as it is often called. He 
saw two ships near by, and entered one, which 
was Simon Peter's, and told him to thrust out a 
little from the shore, and He taught the people 
from the ship. When He had ended His teach- 
ings, He told Simon Peter to launch out into the 
deep, and let dow:a the nets. Peter had toiled 
all night with no success, but, nevertheless, he 
obeyed ; and immediately the nets were so filled 
with fishes that they broke, and he called his 
partner, and they filled both ships until they 
began to sink : then Peter fell down at Jesus' 
feet, saying, Depart from me, I am a sinful man. 

Jesus went home with Peter. On reaching 



46 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the house they found Peter's mother-in-law very 
sick. Jesus took her by the hand, lifted her 
up, and immediately the fever left her, and she 
arose and ministered unto them. Then the 
whole city was gathered at the door; all that 
were diseased, and possessed with devils, and 
He healed them. 

In the morning, rising very early, He went 
out to a solitary place and prayed. Simon and 
others followed Him, and told Him that many 
sought Him ; but He said, Let us go to the next 
towns. During His journeyings a leper came to 
Him, beseeching Him to heal him ; he fell upon 
his knees, and said, If thou wilt, thou, canst 
make me clean. Jesus, moved with compassion, 
put forth His hand, touched him, and said, I 
will ; be thou clean. And, as soon as He had 
spoken, that terrible disease disappeared, and 
he was made clean. 

When Jesus was at Capernaum, a Centurion 
came, beseeching Him to heal his servant, who 
was sick of the palsy. Jesus said He would go ; 
but the Centurion, with great humility and faith, 
replied, that he was not worthy that the Lord 



THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 47 

should enter his house, but desired Jesus to say 
the word only, and his servant should be 
healed. Jesus bade the Centurion go his way, 
and said, As thou hast believed, so be it done 
unto thee. And his servant was healed from 
that hour. 

The day after, our Saviour was in the city of 
Nain ; He was followed by His disciples and 
many people. As they approached the gate of 
the city, they met a funeral procession. On the 
bier lay the lifeless form of a young man, the 
only son of his mother, and she a widow. The 
Lord saw her, and had compassion on her, and 
said, Weep not. He touched the bier, and the 
bearers stood still. Jesus said, Young man 
arise ; and he arose and began to speak, and 
Jesus delivered him to his mother. The people 
glorified Glod, and believed that God had visited 
His people, and that a great prophet had arisen 
among them. 

Then John the Baptist sent his disciples to 
inquire of Jesus if He was the Christ, or if they 
should look for another. He showed the dis- 
ciples that the prophecies of the Holy Scrip- 



48 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

tures were fulfilled in Him, that He had given 
sight to the blind, made the lame walk, the deaf 
hear, cleansed lepers, raised the dead, and 
preached the Gospel to the poor. 

One day Jesus was in a ship, teaching the 
multitude on shore concerning the parable of 
the sower, and the imperceptible growth of the 
seed, and of the grain of mustard. At evening 
He sent the multitude away, and He and His dis- 
ciples crossed over on the other side. In the 
night a tempest arose, the waves beat wild and 
high, and the ship was filled with water, but 
Jesus was asleep. . . The disciples awoke 
Him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. He 
arose, rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, 
Peace, be still. The wind ceased, and the foam- 
ing sea grew calm. 

" Once upon the heaving ocean 
Rode a bark at even tide, 
While the waves in wild commotion 
Dashed against the vessel's side. 

Jesus, sleeping on a pillow, 
Heeded not the raging billow ; 
While the waves were all abroad 
Calmly slept the Son of God. 



THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 49 

In that dark and stormy hour 

Fearful ones awaked the Lord ; 
Jesus, by His sovereign power, 

Calmed the tempest with a word. 

On life's dark and stormy ocean, 
1 Mid the billows' wild commotion, 
Trembling soul your Lord is there ; 
He will make you all His care." 

M. 8. B. Dana, 

5 



50 • HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER V. 

CONTINUATION OF OUE LOED's MIRACLES AND DOCTEINE. 

In the country of the Gergasenes, Jesus met 
two persons possessed of devils, coming out of 
the tombs, and they were so fierce that none 
dare go near them. These evil spirits called 
Jesus the son of David, and exclaimed, Why 
hast thou come hither to torment us before the 
time? This question implies their fear of a 
judgment day. Perhaps these evil spirits were 
among those "angels which kept not their first 
estate, but left their own habitation," and are 
" reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, 
unto the judgment of the great day." The 
devils besought Jesus to suffer them to enter a 
herd of swine that were a good way off, feeding. 
He suffered them to go, and the whole herd ran 
violently down a steep precipice, and perished. 
The Gradarenes, that fed the swine, went to the 



HIS MIRACLES AND D0CTBINE. 51 

city, and told every thing that had occurred. 
The whole city was filled with amazement and 
fear, and came to Jesus and besought Him to 
depart from their coasts. Then He entered a 
ship and came over to His own city, Caper- 
naum. " Bethlehem brought Him forth, Nazareth 
brought Him up, and Capernaum was His dwell- 
ing place." 

At Capernaum Jesus healed a man sick of 
the palsy, brought to Him on a bed. 

Jairus, a ruler in the Synagogue, had a little 
daughter of twelve summers, who was danger- 
ously ill. He came to Jesus, fell on his knees 
at His feet, and besought Him to lay His hand 
upon her, that she might live. "While he was 
talking, a messenger came to tell him that his 
daughter was dead. But Jesus said, Fear not, 
only believe. They came to the house, and 
there was great weeping and wailing. Jesus 
said, Why do ye weep ? the maid is not dead. 
But they laughed Him to scorn. He put the 
people out of the room, took the little maiden 
by the hand and said, Damsel, arise; and her 
spirit came again, and she immediately arose. 



52 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

While Jesus was speaking with. Jairus, a 
woman that had been diseased with an issue of 
blood for twelve years, came behind Him, and 
touched the hem of His garment ; having faith 
that she should be healed. Jesus turned and 
saw her, and, knowing her thoughts and her 
great faith, said, Daughter, be of good comfort ; 
thy faith hath made thee whole. And she was 
whole from that hour. 

At Capernaum again, He healed two blind 
men, and cured a dumb demoniac. 

When Jesus went up to Jerusalem to the 
feast, He saw a poor, helpless invalid at the 
pool of Bethesda; He had been sick thirty- 
eight years. The lame, and blind, and halt, 
came to this pool, and waited for the moving of 
the waters by an angel, who came at certain sea- 
sons, and the one that stepped in first was healed. 
This man could not reach the pool first, and had 
no one to carry him there. Jesus said unto 
him, Eise, take up thy bed and walk ; and he 
was immediately made whole, took up his bed 
and walked. 

It was done on the Sabbath, and the Jews 



HIS MIRACLES AND DOCTRINE. 53 

rebuked him for carrying his bed on that day. 
He excused himself by saying that he was com- 
manded to do it by the one that healed him ; 
but he did not know who it was that healed 
him. Afterwards Jesus saw the man in the 
Temple and said to him, Sin no more, lest a 
worse thing come upon thee than before. Then 
he knew that he was the one that healed him, 
and pointed him out to the Jews : then did the 
Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, 
because He had done these things on the Sab- 
bath day. 

Jesus answered the Jews, saying, My Father 
worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore, the 
Jews sought the more to kill Him ; for He had 
not only broken the Sabbath, according to their 
ideas, but made himself equal with God, by say- 
ing that God was His Father. Jesus knew 
when He said that God was His Father, that the 
Jews understood that He asserted His divinity ; 
that by the use of this very expression He was, 
to use the identical words of St. John, " Mak- 
ing himself equal with God." He knew 

that they, like many conscientious, pure-minded 
5* 



54 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and devout people of the present age, were 
jealous of the worship given to the Son. 

If they had not comprehended His meaning, 
what an opportunity our Saviour had to correct 
them, and thus silence by His words, for all 
coming time, those who would claim that He 
was equal with God. But He supported and 
confirmed it by His own words, saying, Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing 
of himself, but what He seeth the Father do : 
for what things soever He doeth, these also 
doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth 
the Son, and showeth Him all things that Him- 
self doeth ; and He will show Him greater 
works than these, that ye may marvel. For as 
the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth 
them ; even so the Son quickeneth whom He 
will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath 
committed all judgment unto the Son; that all 
men should honor the Son, EVEN AS they honor 
the Father. He that honoreth not the Son, hon- 
oreth not the Father which sent Him. 

St. Paul speaks plainly on the subject, and 
says, Jesus, " being in the form of God, thought 



HIS MIRACLES AND DOCTRINE. 55 

it not robbery to be equal with God ; but 
made Himself of no reputation, and took upon 
Him the form of a servant, and was made in 
the likeness of men. And being found in 
fashion as a man, he humbled Himself, and 
became obedient unto death, even the death of 
the fcross. Wherefore, God also hath highly 
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is 
above every name ; that at the name of Jesus 
every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and 
things in earth, and things under the earth; 
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

First, St. Paul asserts that Jesus is equal with 
God; then he says he took upon Him the form 
of a servant. 

Every created being is, from the first, a ser- 
vant of the most high God, whether it be an 
angel, an archangel, or man. 

If Christ had been a creature of God, a 
servant from the beginning, he could not have 
taken the form of a servant upon himself. 

But God " appointed him heir of all things, 
by whom also He made the worlds ; who being 



56 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the brightness of His glory, and the express 
image of His person, and upholding all things 
by the word of His power, when He had by 
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right 
hand of the Majesty on high," and God said unto 
Him, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid 
the foundation of the earth; and the heaVens 
are the works of Thine hands. 

Secondly, He says, that at the name of Jesus 
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, 
and things in earth, and things under the earth, 
teaching us to worship and adore our Saviour, 
even as God commanded the angels to worship 
and adore Him, the only begotten Son. And 
Jesus taught us, whatsoever we ask of God, to 
ask it in His name, the name of Jesus. And St. 
Peter says, Neither is there salvation in any 
other; for there is none other name under 
heaven given among men, whereby we must be 
saved. Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the 
Father, our High-priest, who is merciful and 
faithful in things joertaining to God, and hath 
an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is 
able also to save them to the uttermost that 



HIS MIEACLES AND DOCTKINE. 57 

come unto God by Him ) seeing He ever liveth to 
make intercession for them. Jesus is the Medi- 
ator of the new covenant, a High-priest over the 
house of God ; the same yesterday, and to-day, 
and for ever ; the great Shepherd of the sheep, 
and Bishop of our souls. 



58 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CONTINUATION OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY. 

In a desert place near Bethsaida, Jesus and 
His disciples sought rest and tranquillity. Jesus, 
knowing that Herod believed Him to be John 
the Baptist risen from the dead, withdrew 
quietly to this unfrequented place. They went 
by ship privately; but the people saw them 
departing, and ran afoot thither out of all the 
cities, and out went them, and came together 
unto Him in crowds. Jesus did not censure 
them for breaking in upon his solitude ; but 
had compassion on them, and preached to 
them the kingdom of heaven, and healed those 
that were diseased. 

The day was far spent, and the disciples 
desired Jesus to send the people away, to buy 
themselves bread ; for they had nothing to eat. 
But Jesus told the disciples to feed them. The 



ouk lord's ministry. 59 

disciples said they had only five loaves and two 
fishes. Jesus bade the multitude be seated on 
the grass in ranks of fifties, and there were five 
thousand men. There were old men with sil- 
very locks and furrowed brow, middle-aged men 
strong and brave, and young men with all the 
ardor and fire of youth. Near them were dear 
mothers pale and careworn, happy young wives, 
gay young maidens, and bright-eyed children. 
Nature had spread her richest, brightest carpet, 
hung her blue canopy above, and lighted her 
shining sun for the heavenly feast. 

Jesus, who left a throne in high heaven, and 
came down to dwell on earth to redeem us poor, 
wretched sinners, stood amid this multitude. 
He took the five loaves and two fishes, looked 
up to heaven, blessed and broke, and gave them 
to His disciples to feed the multitude. They all 
did eat and were filled, and there were twelve 
baskets of fragments left. Jesus constrained His 
disciples to enter a ship, and go before Him on 
the other side, while He sent the multitude 
away. 

When the people were all gone away, Jesus 



60 HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

went up into a mountain to pray, and at even- 
ing He was still there alone. But the disciples 
were in their ship, tossed by the wild waves 
of the tempestuous sea. Near day -break Jesus 
went to them, walking on the sea. The terror- 
stricken followers of the Lord saw Him, but so 
great was their fear that they failed to recognize 
Him, and they thought He was a spirit, and 
cried out for fear. Jesus spake unto them, and 
said : Be of good cheer ; it is I, be not afraid. 
Peter said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come 
unto Thee. Jesus said, Come. Peter then left 
the ship and walked on the water, but the bois- 
terous wind soon overcame his faith, and he 
begun to sink, and cried, Lord, save me. Jesus 
stretched out His hand and caught him, and 
said: Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst 
thou doubt. And when they came into the 
ship the wind ceased. Then they that were in 
the ship came and worshipped Jesus, saying, Of 
a truth Thou art the Son of God. 

Then Jesus went into the land of Genesareth, 
and the men of that place, knowing of His 
great miracles, sent out into all the country 



our lord's ministry. 61 

and brought those to Him that were diseased ; 
and they besought Him only to let them touch 
the hem of His garment, and as many as touched 
were healed. 

Prom here Jesus went into the coasts of Tyre 
and Sidon. There a Canaanite woman came to 
Him, calling Him the Son of David, and pray- 
ing Him to heal her daughter. At first He did 
not answer her ; and His disciples begged Him 
to send her away. He told her that He was 
sent only to the lost Sheep of Israel. But she 
worshipped, and said still, Lord help me. Jesus 
told her it was not meet to cast the children's 
bread to dogs. She saw how every thing 
seemed against her ; but with a tact that makes 
stepping-stones of obstacles, with a perseverance 
that never flagged, with a faith that could not 
be shaken, she said : Truth, Lord, yet the dogs 
eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's 
table. Jesus replied, Oh woman, great is thy 
faith ; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And 
her daughter was made whole from that hour. 

Jesus came again nigh to the Sea of Galilee, 
and went up into a mountain, and sat down 



62 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

there, and received the lame, and blind, and the 
dumb, and the maimed, and healed them all. 
The multitude wondered at these things, and 
glorified the God of Israel. Jesus called His 
disciples, and said that He would not send this 
multitude away fasting ; for they had been with 
Him three days, and had nothing to eat, and 
might faint on the way. The disciples objected 
as before, wondering how they could get bread 
enough in the wilderness to feed so many. 
There were four thousand men, besides women 
and children, and there were but seven loaves 
and a few fishes. Jesus commanded the multi- 
tude to sit down. He took the bread and the 
fishes, and broke them, and gave to His disciples 
for the people. They all did eat and were filled, 
and there were seven baskets full left. He sent 
the multitude away, and took a ship and went 
to the coasts of Magdala. 

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to tempt 
Him, and desired Him to give them a sign from 
Heaven. All the prophecies of the coming of 
the Messiah had been fulfilled in the coming of 
Jesus. At His baptism a voice from heaven 



OUR lord's ministry. 63 

proclaimed Him to be the Son of God. He had 
given sight to the blind, raised the dead, calmed 
the sea, and hushed the wind, and still they 
asked for a sign. 

When Jesus came into the coast of Cesarea 
Philippi, He asked His disciples whom men 
called Him. They answered that some called 
Him John the Baptist, some Elias, and some 
Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He asked 
whom they called Him, and Simon Peter an- 
swered, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
Living God. Then Jesus said: Blessed art 
Thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath 
not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which 
is in heaven. And I say unto thee, that thou 
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My 
Church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it. He charged His disciples that they 
should tell no one that He was the Christ. 

From that time Jesus commenced teaching 
His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, 
suffer much from the elders, chief priests and 
scribes, and be crucified, and remain in the 
tomb three days, and then be raised again. 



64 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Peter, with, his impetuous, affectionate nature, 
could not bear to hear our Saviour foretell these 
things that He must suffer. He vehemently 
exclaimed, This shall not be unto Thee. But 
Jesus reproved him sternly, and said: If any 
man will come after Me, let him deny himself 
and take up his cross and follow Me. 

At one time parents brought their infants 
and little children to Jesus, that He might bless 
them, and the disciples rebuked them. But 
Jesus saw it, and was much displeased, and said 
unto them : Suffer little children to come unto 
Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the 
kingdom of heaven. Yerily I say unto you, 
whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. 
And he took them up in His arms, put His hands 
upon them, and blessed them. 

He could do no more ; for they were already 
members of the Jewish Church and children 
of the covenant, and there was no Christian 
baptism until after the Eesurrection and Ascen- 
sion of Jesus, when the Holy Ghost, or Com- 
forter, was given on the day of Pentecost ; for 



our lord's ministry. 65 

as we read, (Acts, xix. 4,) John verily bap- 
tized with the baptism of repentance, saying 
unto the people, That they should believe on 
Him which should come after him, that is 
on Christ Jesus. In the next verse we read 
that the disciples at Ephesus, to whom these 
words were addressed, although they had been 
baptized unto John's baptism, were again bap- 
tized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Nicephorus tells us that Ignatius, afterwards 
the Bishop of Antioch, was among the highly 
favored children taken in the arms of Jesus, 
blessed by the Son of God, and His hands laid 
upon them. Such a blessed childhood did indeed 
prefigure a holy life, and was crowned with 
Martydom, even as the Apostles, of whose sacred 
office he was a successor. 

We take children to Christ, when we bring 

them into His visible Church by baptism. The 

world indeed may see no good in infant baptism, 

but we are steadfast in this faith : we know that 

the Lord will receive little children now as when 

on earth, and we believe He is much displeased 

with those who would shut out the babes in Christ. 
6* 



66 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

when He has expressly declared that of such is 
His kingdom. 

Some have thought that the baptism of a 
child is not proper, because the child cannot 
exercise faith. But does not this prove too 
much? For with equal authority we might 
say, the child cannot be saved, because it cannot 
believe. "He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall 
be damned." 

Peter said to the Jews on the day of Pente- 
cost : Eepent and be baptized, every one of you, 
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost 
For the promise is to you, and to your children, 
and to all that are afar off. 

Baptism, therefore, is the regular channel 
through which we are to receive the Holy 
Spirit. We may receive it in other ways, but 
we are to seek for it and expect it in the 
appointed way. All are commanded to be 
baptized, and none have a right to neglect it. 
How we are to be born again, or how we are to 
receive the Holy Spirit, is one of the mysteries 



our lord's ministry. 67 

of God. We only know that God has promised, 
mA will perform His part ; and we know it is 
not a harder thing for Him to give His Holy 
Spirit to little children than to adults, nor to 
us than to the Jews of old. 



68 THE HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CLOSING OF OTTE LOED's PUBLIC MINISTRY. 

Behold Mount Tabor with its level summits, 
its sloping sides covered with the sycamore, the 
oak and the olive, studded with beautiful flowers 
of every hue. See on the west the blue Medi- 
terranean, below the fertile plains of Galilee and 
Esdrelon, on the east the Sea that knew the 
voice of its Lord, and hushed its passions at 
His rebuke; and before you on the north lie 
the snow-covered heights of Lebanon. On this 
high mountain according to tradition the trans- 
figuration of our Lord occurred. Jesus stood 
there, and with Him Peter the fearless and 
bold, James the Lord's brother, and John the 
apostle, whom the Lord loved. Jesus was 
transfigured before them; His face did shine 
as the sun, and his raiment was white as 
snow and glistening ; and there appeared 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTRY. 69 

Moses, the historian, the lawgiver of God's 
chosen people, the prophet of God, the greatest 
and meekest of men; and Elijah, the prophet 
that did not die, but was caught up to heaven 
by a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire and with 
horses of fire. Moses and Elijah appeared in 
glory, and spoke to Jesus of His decease, which 
He should accomplish at Jerusalem ; " they bore 
witness to these Apostles that Jesus was their 
Lord, too," and that in Him the type of the Mo- 
saic law was realized, and the prophecies of Elijah 
fulfilled, that the dispensation of the law and 
the prophets had terminated, and the new dis- 
pensation of the Gospel was to be introduced. 

The Apostles were heavy with sleep; and 
when they were awake, they saw His glory, 
and the two men that stood with Him. Peter 
said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be 
here; if Thou wilt, let us make three taber- 
nacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and one 
for Elijah. While yet he spoke, a bright cloud 
overshadowed them, and a voice came out of 
the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased. The disciples were 



70 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

sore afraid, and fell on their face, but Jesus 
gently touched them, and said, Arise, be not 
afraid. They lifted up their eyes, and saw no 
one but Jesus. As they came down from the 
mountain, Jesus charged them to tell no man 
of the vision, until the Son of man was raised 
from the dead. 

At one time they came to Capernaum, and 
those that collected tribute to defray the ex- 
penses of the sanctuary, asked Peter if his 
Master paid tribute. Peter answered, Yes. 
When he came in the house, Jesus, knowing 
his thoughts, and what had passed, inquired of 
whom kings of the earth take custom or tribute, 
of their own children or strangers ? Peter saith, 
Of strangers, not children. Then, said Jesus, 
the children are free. But, said He, lest we 
offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take 
up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou 
hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece 
of money : take that and give unto them for Me 
and thee. 

In Jericho, Jesus restored sight to two blind 
men, who were by the way-side begging. Hear- 



CLOSING- OF HIS MINISTEY. 71 

ing that Jesus passed by, they called upon Him 
to open their eyes. In vain the multitude tried 
to silence them ; they only cried the more, say- 
ing, Have mercy on us, Lord, thou Son of 
David ; until Jesus stood still, and opened their 
eyes. 

At Jerusalem He performed a still greater 
miracle, that of giving sight to a man born 
blind. In Samaria He cleansed ten lepers, who 
besought Him to heal them. Only one of the 
ten returned to give Him thanks, and He glori- 
fied God with a loud voice. 

In Decapolis, Jesus cured a man that was 
deaf and dumb. Near Tabor, a man brought 
his boy to Jesus to have a devil cast out of him. 
The man had taken the boy to the disciples, but 
they, through unbelief, could not heal him. 
But, in a moment, Jesus rebuked the devil, and 
he departed, and the child was cured. 

In Galilee, Jesus saw a woman that was 
nearly bent double from an infirmity of eigh- 
teen years' standing, and He healed her. It 
was on the Sabbath day, and the ruler of the 
synagogue was very indignant, and told the 



72 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

people to come during the six days appointed 
for work, if they desired to be healed. But the 
Lord rebuked him in such a manner that he 
and all the adversaries of Christ were ashamed, 
and all the people rejoiced for the glorious 
things done by Him. 

On another Sabbath, He healed a man that 
had the dropsy. The man came to Him to be 
healed ; the Pharisees and lawgivers were 
watching Jesus, and He turned, and asked 
them if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath 
day, and they held their peace. Then Jesus 
healed the man and sent him away. 

In the little village of Bethany there dwelt 
Lazarus, Martha and Mary, a family greatly 
beloved by our Saviour, and whose hospitality 
He often shared. They loved Jesus not only 
as a friend, but they adored Him as the Son of 
God. Lazarus was sick, and the sisters imme- 
diately sent a messenger to Jesus, saying, He 
whom Thou lovest is sick. 

When Jesus heard it, He said : This sickness 
is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that 
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTKY. 73 

Although. He loved the family so much, and 
knew their great affliction, still He tarried two 
days before He set out for Bethany. 

Here we can draw a lesson for ourselves ; if 
we are not speedily relieved in the hour of 
affliction, we must have faith that He tarries 
" for the glory of God."' 

When Jesus purposed going to Judea, the 
disciples reminded Him how the Jews had 
sought to stone Him, and seemed surprised 
that He would go thither again. Jesus an- 
swered them, and then He said, Our friend 
Lazarus sleepeth. The disciples said, If he 
sleep he doeth well, supposing it to be a quiet, 
refreshing sleep, that would naturally indicate 
a favorable turn of the disease. Then Jesus 
told them plainly that Lazarus was dead, and 
that He was glad, for their sakes, that He was 
not there, to the intent that they might believe, 
and said, Nevertheless, let us go unto him. 

Thomas, so unbelieving in every thing that 
he could not test by his senses, failed, in this 
instance, to perceive the meaning of our Sa- 
viour; but, nevertheless, was ready to follow 



74 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Him, and said unto the other disciples, Let us 
also go that we may die with Him. He was 
ready and willing to lay down his life with, and 
for Jesus, though his faith was imperfect. 

Jesus arrived at Bethany, and was told that 
Lazarus had been dead four days. Bethany 
was only about two miles from Jerusalem, and 
many Jews had come there to comfort Martha 
and Mary. When Martha heard that Jesus 
had come, she went to meet Him before He 
came into the town, and said: Lord, if Thou 
hadst been here, my brother had not died. He 
told her that her brother should rise again. 
She said she knew he would rise in the resur- 
rection of the last day. Jesus said : / am the 
Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in 
Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. 
Then Martha confessed that she believed Jesus 
to be the Christ, the Son of God, which should 
come into the world. She called her sister 
Alary secretly, and told her the Master had 
come, and desired to see her. Mary ran to 
meet Him, and fell down at His feet, and ex- 
pressed herself in the very same words of 



CLOSING- OF HIS MINISTRY. .75 

Martha : Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not died. 

The Jews, supposing Mary had gone to the 
grave to weep, followed her. When Jesus saw 
Mary and the Jews weeping, He groaned in 
spirit, and was troubled. He inquired where 
Lazarus was laid. When they came to the 
grave Jesus wept. What a holy picture for 
men and angels to look upon ! Jesus, the 
King of Grlory, God and man, standing there 
weeping with those that wept! Surely, He 
was made man, that He might be a merciful 
and faithful High-priest, that He may now, as 
then, sympathize with us in our afflictions, 
and give help to all who ask, perhaps not at 
the time, or in the manner we desire, but 
always according to His great wisdom and 
mercy. 

The Jews said, behold how much He loved 
him ; and some said if He had power to give 
sight to the blind, could He not have prevented 
this man from dying. Jesus told them to take 
the stone away ; for his grave was a cave with 
a stone upon it. Martha expostulated with 



76 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Him, saying that he had been dead four days, 
but Jesus spoke thus to her. Said I not 
unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou 
shouldst see the glory of God. The stone was 
taken away. 

Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father I 
thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I 
know Thou hearest Me always ; but because of 
the people which stand by I said it, that they 
might believe that Thou hast sent Me. When 
He had thus spoken, He cried out with a loud 
voice, saying, Lazarus come forth. The dead 
man heard His voice, and came forth bound 
with his grave-clothes ; Jesus bade them loose 
him, and let him go. 

Many of the Jews that came and saw these 
things believed on Jesus, and they told the 
Pharisees. The Pharisees called a council to 
form some plan to counteract the influence of 
Jesus on the people. Caiaphas, the High-priest, 
that year prophesied that Jesus should die for 
that nation, and not for that nation only, but 
also that He should gather together in one the 
children of God that were scattered abroad. 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTRY. 77 

From that clay they took counsel to put Him 
to death. 

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to 
Bethany and there was a supper for Him at the 
house of Simon. Martha served, and Lazarus 
sat at the table with Jesus. Mary, the other 
member of this interesting family, (or as some 
suppose Mary Magdalene,) took a pound of the 
precious ointment of spikenard, and anointed 
the feet of Jesus, and wiped them with her hair, 
and the whole house was filled with the odor 
of the ointment. Mary delighted to honor the 
Lord, and considered nothing too precious to 
bring to Him as an offering ; she was only too 
happy to take up her soft, long hair, the glory 
of a woman, to wipe the feet of Jesus. What 
could express greater humility ? 

Judas Iscariot, with the sin of covetousness 
ever in his heart, asked why this ointment was 
not sold and the proceeds given to the poor ? 
He cared not for the poor ; but he carried the 
bag and was a thief. 

Forty- five or fifty dollars, the price of a pound 

of spikenard, seemed a great sum in the eyes of 

7* 



78 HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the avaricious and dishonest Judas, who was 
capable of selling his Lord and Master for fifteen 
dollars, the common price paid for slaves that 
were accidently killed. 

Many people now, like Judas, object to the 
costly offerings brought by pious, loving hands 
to the temple of God, and ask why were not 
these things sold for the benefit of the poor. 
But hear Jesus's words, Let her alone; why 
trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good 
work on Me. For ye have the poor with you 
always, and whensoever ye will ye may do 
them good ; but Me ye have not always. She 
hath done what she could : she is come afore- 
hand to anoint My body to the burying. Verily 
I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall 
be preached throughout the whole world, this 
also that she hath done shall be spoken of, for a 
memorial of her. 

Many people came to see Jesus, but more 
desired to see Lazarus, who was dead and 
buried so long, and by the word of Jesus lived 
again, and dwelt among them. So many went 
away believing on Jesus by reason of Lazarus, 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTKY. 79 

that the chief-priests determined to put him to 
death also, that he might no longer be a living 
witness of the power of Christ. 

The next day after the supper at Simon's 
house, the people that came up to Jerusalem 
to the feast, hearing that Jesus was coming 
there also, took branches of palm trees and 
went to meet him, crying, Hosanna, blessed is 
the King of Israel, that cometh in the name of 
the Lord. They took branches of palm trees, 
boughs of goodly thick trees, and willows of 
the brook to rejoice before the Lord at their 
feast of Tabernacles ; even so they rejoiced 
before Jesus the Christ. 

Jesus was at Bethphage, on the Mount of 
Olives; He told His disciples to go over into 
the village, and at a place where two ways met, 
they would find an ass tied, and her colt with 
her, whereon man never sat, and he desired 
them to be brought to hirn ; and if the owner 
objected, he should be told, the Lord had need 
of them, and he would straightway send them. 
The disciples followed the directions so min- 
utely given them, and brought the unbroken 



80 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

colt for Jesus to ride upon ; they put their 
garments, instead of a saddle on the colt, and 
set Jesus thereon. The multitude spread their 
garments in the way, and cut down branches 
from the trees and strewed them in the road. 
And the multitude that went before, and that 
followed Him, cried Hosanna to the Son of 
David : blessed is He that cometh in the name 
of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest! He 
went to the Temple, and the children too 
cried, Hosanna to the Son of David. Jesus 
was welcomed as a conqueror, as a king on 
His triumphal entry into the holy city ; for the 
people cried Hosanna to the king, which is 
equivalent to "God save the king," and the 
children welcomed Him as a descendant of the 
royal David. 

The prophecy of Zachariah in relation to the 
Messiah was fulfilled in Christ's entry to Jeru- 
salem: Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, 
thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting 
upon an ass, the foal of an ass. 

When this triumphal procession reached Jeru- 
salem the city was moved, saying, Who is this ? 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTRY. 81 

The people answered this is Jesus, the prophet 
of Nazareth. Many of these people were those 
who were with Him when He called Lazarus 
from the dead, and bearing witness of this mir- 
acle to all the people they met, they were the 
means of gathering together this great multi- 
tude. 

When they came nigh to the descent of the 
Mount of Olives, on the way to the Temple, the 
disciples began to rejoice, and praise God with 
a loud voice, for all the mighty works they had 
seen ; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh 
in the name of the Lord ; peace in heaven, and 
glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in 
the multitude desired Jesus to rebuke the dis- 
ciples ; but he said unto them : I tell you, that 
if these should hold their peace, the stones 
would immediately cry out. 

When Jesus came near the city, He looked 
upon it, and wept over it. He foretold the aw- 
ful judgments that were soon to fall upon Jeru- 
salem, the chosen City of the Lord, but now so 
full of wickedness. He lamented over the de- 
voted city, saying: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 



82 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. * 

thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them 
which are sent unto thee, how often would I 
have gathered thy children together, even as a 
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
and ye would not ! 

As He went into the temple, and the chil- 
dren cried Hosanna to the son of David, the 
chief-priests and scribes were sore displeased, 
and asked Jesus if He heard them. He an- 
swered, Yea ; have ye never read, Out of the 
mouth of "babes and sucklings thou hast per- 
fected praise? The blind and the lame were 
brought to Him in the temple, and He healed 
them. When He had looked round about upon 
all things, and now the eventide was come, He 
went out unto Bethany with the twelve, and 
lodged there. 

In the morning as they returned into the 
city He hungered. Seeing a fig-tree afar off 
having leaves, He came if haply He might find 
any thing thereon. When He came to it, He 
found nothing but leaves, and He said, Let no 
more fruit grow on thee henceforth and for ever. 
And presently the fig-tree withered away. The 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTEY. 83 

disciples marvelled greatly to see a healthy tree 
so soon grow dry and dead, and its soft green 
leaves wither, and curl, and grow crisp at a 
word. 

The days of the great feast of the Passover 
drew near. Among the number of worshippers 
that came up to Jerusalem were certain Greeks, 
and they came to Philip and desired to see Jesus. 
Philip, not thinking it expedient for Jesus to 
see them, or for some reason, consulted with 
Andrew before he told Jesus. When they had 
told Jesus, He answered them in the presence 
of the people, saying, The hour is come, that 
the Son of man should be glorified. Yerily, 
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat 
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: 
but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit. He 
that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that 
hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto 
life eternal. If any man will serve Me, let him 
follow Me ; if any man serve Me, him will My 
Father honor. Now is My soul troubled, and 
what shall I say? Father save Me from this 
hour ; but for this cause came I unto this hour, 



84: THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Father, glorify Thy name. Then there came a 
voice from Heaven, saying, I have both glori- 
fied it, and will glorify it again. The people 
that stood by heard it, and said that it thun- 
dered ; others said, An angel spake to Him. 

Three times a voice from Heaven spake to 
Jesus — at His Baptism, in the beginning of His 
ministry ; at His Transfiguration, when Moses 
and Elijah came to talk with Him of His de- 
cease ; and then, again, as the awful hour of 
agony drew nigh. God spake from on high, 
but for the sakes of those who were with Him. 

Jesus spoke of the manuer of His death ; 
and the people answered, that they had learned 
from the law that Christ abideth for ever, and 
they could not understand, if He was the Christ, 
why He should speak of His death. Jesus said 
unto them, Yet a little while is the Light with 
you. Walk while ye have the Light, lest dark- 
ness come upon you ; for he that walketh in 
darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While 
ye have light, believe in the Light, that ye may 
be the children of light. These things spake 
Jesus, and departed, and did hide Himself. 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTRY. 85 

He had performed so many miracles before 
them, yet they believed not in Him ; that the 
saying of Isaiah might be fulfilled, Lord who 
hath believed our report, and to whom hath 
the arm of the Lord been revealed? And 
again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hard- 
ened their heart ; that they should not see with 
their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and 
be converted, and I should heal them. These 
things Isaiah spake, when he saw the glory of 
Jesus and spoke of Him. 

Of Him the Seraphim sang, Holy, holy, holy 
is the Lord of hosts ; and this holy song was 
followed by the moving of the posts, or pillars 
of the temple, and the whole house was filled 
with smoke, or thick darkness, as when it was 
dedicated by Solomon. The Lord said, Whom 
shall I send, and who will go for us ? 

At the Creation God said, Let us make man 
in our image. After the Fall God said, Behold 
the man is become as one of us, to know good 
from evil. At\ the Confusion of Tongues God 
said, Let us go down to see the city and the 



86 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

tower. Here we have the plurality in the 
Deity, the Trinity in the Unity. 

In the 44th chap, of Isaiah we read, Thus 
saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his Ee- 
deemer the Lord of Hosts ; I am the First and 
I am the Last, beside Me there is no God. In 
another chapter we read, I even I am the Lord ; 
and beside Me there is no Saviour. 

Compare these expressions with the Eevela- 
tion of Jesus as given to St. John. In one place, 
speaking of the Lamb, He says, The Lamb shall 
overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and 
King of kings. 

St. John says, I was in the Spirit on the 
Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, 
as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, 
the first and the last ; and what thou seest write 
in a book, and send it unto the seven Churches 
which are in Asia. He turned toward the voice 
that addressed him, and saw one like unto the 
Son of man, with a loose flowing garment that 
reached to his feet, confined at the waist by a 
golden girdle : His hair was white as snow, and 
His eyes were like flaming fire ; His voice was 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTRY. 87 

as the sound of many waters, and His counten- 
ance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 
When this glorious vision burst upon John's 
sight, he fell at his feet as one dead ; but Jesus 
laid His hand upon him just as He did at the 
Transfiguration, saying, Fear not: I am the first 
and the last I am He that liveth, and was dead; 
and behold, I am alive for evermore, and have 
the keys of hell and death. 

In the fifty-fourth chapter Isaiah, speaking 
of the Church of Israel, says, For thy Makei 
is thy husband ; the Lord of hosts is His name ; 
and thy Eedeemer the Holy One of Israel ; 
the God of the whole earth shall He be called. 

St. Paul says to the Church of Corinth, I 
have espoused you to one husband, that I may 
present yon as a chaste virgin to Christ. He 
says to the Ephesians, Wives, submit your- 
selves unto your own husbands, as unto the 
Lord. For the husband is the head of the 
wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church ; 
and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, 
as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let 
wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 



88 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also 
loved tlie Church, and gave Himself for it ; 
that He might sanctify, and cleanse it with the 
washing of water by the Word, that He might 
present it to Himself a. glorious Church, not 
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; 
but that it should be holy, and without blem- 
ish. So ought men to love their wives as their 
own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth 
himself. For no man ever yet hated his own 
flesh ; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as 
the Lord the Church; for we are members of 
His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For 
this cause, shall a man leave his father, and his 
mother, and be joined unto his wife, and they 
two shall be one flesh. This is a great mys- 
tery; but I speak concerning Christ, and the 
Church. 

In Eevelation we read of the marriage of the 
Lamb, and the voice of a great multitude, cry- 
ing, Alleluia! for the Lord Omnipotent reign- 
eth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor 
to Him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, 
and His wife hath made herself ready. And to 



CLOSING OF HIS MINISTRY. 89 

her was granted that she should be arrayed in 
fine linen, clean and white ; for the fine linen is 
the righteousness of saints. The angel said, 
Write, Blessed are they which are called unto 
the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

One of the seven angels talked with John, 
saying, Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, 
the Lamb's Wife. And he showed him that 
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out 
of Heaven, from God ; and the wall of the city 
had twelve foundations, and in them the names 
of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. 

This Eevelation closes by saying, The Spirit 
and the Bride say, Come. And let him that 
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst 
come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely. 



90 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ACCOUNT OF OUE SAVIOURS CKUCIFIXION. 

As the feast of the Passover drew near, the 
chief priests sought how they might kill Jesus 
by craft ; for they feared to do it on the feast- 
day, lest there might be an uproar among the 
people. Then Judas, one of the twelve, went 
unto the chief priests to betray Him, and when 
they heard it they were glad, and promised to 
give him thirty pieces of silver. And from 
that time he sought opportunity to betray Him 
unto them in the absence of the multitude. 

The day of unleavened bread came, when the 
Passover must be killed. Jesus sent Peter and 
John to prepare the Passover. He told them 
when they entered the city, they should meet a 
man bearing a pitcher of water, and follow him 
to his house, and say to him : The Master saith, 
Where is the guest-chamber where I shall eat 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 91 

the Passover with My disciples ? And He told 
them the man would directly show them the 
upper room furnished, and there . they should 
make ready. 

Abraham's servant stood without the City of 
Haran looking for a damsel with a pitcher upon 
her shoulder: so Peter and John looked in 
Jerusalem for a similar sign. They met the 
man, and found every thing as the Saviour told 
them, and they made ready the Passover. 

When evening came, Jesus sat down with the 
Apostles, supper being ready; but He arose, 
and laid aside His upper garment and girdle, 
and tied a towel about Him. He poured water 
into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' 
feet, and to wipe them with the towel that He 
wore as a girdle. When He came to Simon 
Peter, Peter said: Lord, dost Thou wash my 
feet ? Jesus answered, and said unto him : 
What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou 
shalt know hereafter. Peter said unto Him: 
Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus an- 
swered, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part 
with Me. Simon Peter said : Lord, not my feet 



92 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus 
said : He that is washed need not save to wash 
his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are 
clean, but not all. 

Many like Peter desire to have their whole 
bodies washed with the waters of baptism ; but 
let us like him receive the water in the ap- 
pointed way, and be satisfied, that if we are 
baptized with true faith and repentance, we are 
clean every whit. 

After Jesus had washed their feet, He sat 
down again and said unto them : Know ye what 
I have done unto you ? Ye call me Master and 
Lord ; and ye say well, for so I am. If I, then, 
your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, 
ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I 
have given you an example that ye should do 
as I have done to you. Yerily, verily, I say 
unto you, the servant is not greater than his 
Lord : neither he that is sent, greater than He 
that sent him. 

This last sentence gives us a rule to apply to 
the ordination of our clergymen. For instance, 
Presbyters cannot create a Bishop and give him 



THE CKUCIFIXION. 93 

a valid title ; neither can a congregation of lay- 
men make a minister; for it is manifest that 
they cannot give authority to others that they 
do not possess themselves ; for he that is sent is 
not greater than he that sent him. 

"We are not to suppose that the followers of 
Jesus are to follow the washing of feet, literally, 
in Passion Week, or any other fixed time, or at 
all as a religious ceremony ; but this example 
teaches us that we must ever be ready and will- 
ing to do the most menial service for our rela- 
tives and friends, our families, the sick, and the 
afflicted, that duty requires: that we must do 
every thing for the spiritual and temporal wel- 
fare of those around us, no matter how irksome 
or difficult it may be, and do it for Jesus 1 sake, 
ever remembering His comforting words : Inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
these, my brethren, ye have done it unto Me. 

As they sat at the Passover, Jesus said : With 
desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with 
you before I suffer ; for I say unto you, I will 
not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in 
the Kingdom of God. 



94 THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The Passover was first kept as a token of the 
deliverance of the Israelites, and as a prefigura- 
tion of the death of Christ, and ever after as a 
memorial of that deliverance. So the Lord's 
Sapper was first to be celebrated before Christ's 
death, as a token of the great redemption of the 
world, and ever after as a memorial of that great 
event. Jesus ate the Passover for the last time 
that it was ever to be eaten in the fulfilment of 
the law, and He then instituted the Lord's Sup- 
per, the Holy Eucharist. 

He took bread and gave thanks, and brake 
it, and gave it unto them, saying : Take, eat, 
this is My Body which is given for you : this 
do in remembrance of Me. And He took the 
cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, and 
they all drank, and He said unto them : This is 
My Blood of the New Testament which is shed 
for many. And when they had sung a hymn, 
which consisted probably of the* Psalms of 
David, they went unto the Mount of Olives. 

Jesus said unto them : All of you shall be 
offended because of Me this night: for it is 
written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 95 

sheep stall be scattered. But after I am risen, 
I will go before you into Galilee. Peter said : 
Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 
Jesus said : Verily the cock shall not crow twice, 
before thou shalt deny Me thrice. But he spoke 

I more vehemently saying, If I die w T ith Thee, I 
will not deny Thee in any wise. Likewise said 
they all. 
Jesus said unto the Apostles, "When I sent 
you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked 
ye any thing ? And they said, Nothing. Then 
said He unto them : But now, he that hath a 
purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; 
and he that hath no sword, let him sell his gar- 
ment and buy one. For I say unto you, that 
this that is written must yet be accomplished in 
Me. And He was reckoned among the trans- 
gressors : for the things concerning Me have an 
end. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two 
swords. And He said unto them, It is enough. 
The Lord spake to His disciples of His ap- 
proaching death, and told them He must leave 
them, and that whither He went they could not 
go then. He gave them the new commandment 



96 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

to love one another, as He had loved them. He 
told them not to let their hearts be troubled, 
but to believe in Him ; for in His Father's house 
were many mansions, and He would go to pre- 
pare a place for them. He promised to come 
again to receive them unto Himself, that where 
He was there might they be also. 

Thomas, always dull to understand spiritual 
things, said : Lord, we know not whither Thou 
goest ; and how can we know the way ? Jesus 
answered : i" am the Way, and the Truth, and the 
Life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. 

Philip said : Lord, show us the Father, and it 
sufficeth us. Jesus answered: Have I been so 
long time with you, and yet thou hast not 
known Me, Philip ? 

He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father ; 
and how say est thou, then, Show us the Father ? 
Believest thou not that lam in the Father and 
the Father in Me? 

He bade them believe in Him for the very 
works' sake, if nothing more: He told them 
He was going to His Father, and He promised 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 97 

to grant them whatsoever they asked in His 
Name. 

He said He would pray the Father, and the 
Father would send them in the name of Jesus 
the Comforter, even the Spirit of truth, which is 
the Holy Ghost. He said to them : Peace I leave 
with you, My peace I give unto you : not as the 
world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your 
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye 
have heard how I said unto you, I go away, 
and come again unto you. If ye loved Me, 
ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the 
Father : for My Father is greater than I. 

The Son had taken upon Him the form of 
a servant, and made Himself of no reputation, and 
humbled Himself, and became obedient unto 
death, — even the death of the cross. But after 
that death God highly exalted Him, and gave 
Him a Name above every name; that at the 
Name of Jesus every knee should bow, and 
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father. 

He spake to them the parable of the Vine and 
Branches ; showing them He was the true Yine 



98 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and they the Branches, and that every branch 
that bore not fruit should be taken away, and 
every fruit-bearing branch should be purged 
that it might bring forth more fruit. He ex- 
plained to them the impossibility of their bring- 
ing forth fruit unless they abided in Him : He 
told them that without Him they could do 
nothing. 

He told them the world would hate them, as 
it hated Him ; that they would meet with perse- 
cutions and trials, and that whosoever killed 
them would think he was doing God service. 
He told them that it was expedient for Him to go 
away, otherwise the Comforter would not come 
unto them. He told them that He had many 
things to say to them, but they could not bear 
them then ; but the Holy Spirit would here- 
after guide them and show them things to come. 

He said: These things have I spoken unto 
you in proverbs ; but the time cometh when I 
shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but 
I shall show you plainly of the Father. At 
that day ye shall ask in My name : and I say 
not unto you, that I will pray the Father for 



THE CRUCIFIXION". 99 

you ; for the Father Himself loveth you, be- 
cause ye have loved Me, and have believed that 
I came out from God. I came forth from the 
Father , and am come into the world: again I 
leave the world, and go to the Father. 

His disciples said unto Him, — Lo, now speak- 
est Thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 
Now are we sure that Thou hnowest all things, 
and needest not that any man should ask Thee : 
by this we believe that Thou earnest forth from God. 

He told them that the hour h£td come, when 
they would be scattered, and would leave Him 
alone; and yet, He said, not alone, for the 
Father would be with Him. He told them 
that they would find tribulation in the world ; 
but bade them be of good cheer, for He had 
overcome the world. 

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His 
eyes to heaven and said : Father, the hour is 
come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may 
also glorify Thee; as Thou hast given Him 
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal 
life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And 
this is life eternal, that they might know Thee 



100 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom 
Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the 
earth: I have finished the work Thou gavest 
Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou 
Me with Thine own self with the glory which I 
had with Thee before the world was. I have man- 
ifested Thy name unto the men which Thou 
gavest Me out of the world : Thine they were, 
and Thou gavest them Me, and they have kept 
Thy word. Now they have known that all 
things, whatsoever Thou hast given Me, are of 
Thee: for I have given unto them the words 
which Thou gavest Me ; and they have received 
them, and have known surely that I came out 
from Thee, and they have believed that Thou 
didst send Me. I pray for them : I pray not 
for the world, but for them which Thou hast 
given Me; for they are Thine: and all Mine 
are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glori- 
fied in them. 

And now I am no more in the world, but 
these are in the world, and I come to Thee. 
Holy Father, keep through Thine own Name 
those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may 



THE CRUCIFIXION.' 101 

be one, as we are. While I was with them in 
the world, I kept them in Thy name: those 
that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of 
them is lost but the son of perdition, that the 
Scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come 
to Thee.; and these things I speak in the world, 
that they might have My joy fulfilled in them- 
selves. I have given them Thy word ; and the 
world hath hated them, because they are not of 
the world, even as I am not of the world. I 
pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of 
the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them 
from the evil. They are not of the world, even 
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them 
through Thy truth : Thy word is truth. As 
Thou has sent Me into the world, even so have 
I also sent them into the world. And for their 
sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be 
sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I 
for these alone, but for them also which shall 
believe on Me through their word; that they 
all may be one ; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and 
I in Thee, that they also may be one in US ; that 

the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. 
9* 



102 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have 
given them, that they may be one, even as TTe 
are one : I in them and Thou in Me, that they 
may be made perfect in ONE ; and that the world 
may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast 
loved them as Thou lovest Me. Father, I will 
that they also whom Thou hast given Me be 
with Me where I am, that they may behold My 
glory which Thou hast given Me, for Thou 
lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. 

righteous Father, the world hath not known 
Thee ; but I have known Thee, and these have 
known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have 
declared unto them Thy name, and will declare 
it ; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved 
Me may be in them, and I in them. 

When we pluck a rose, no description can 
make its fragrance more perceptible. When 
we gaze upon the rainbow or glorious sunset, 
no words can enhance their effulgent beauty. 
Even so this prayer impresses its beauty and 
sublimity upon the soul, and leaves an aching 
longing for Unity of Spirit " among all who pro- 
fess and call themselves Christians." If Chris- 



THE CEUCIFIXION. 103 

tians would receive the full blessing of Christ, 
their Head, they must be at peace with, them- 
selves. If they would have the world believe, 
they must break down their walls of division, 
throw aside their contentions on minor points, 
and come into one fold, and " be made perfect in 
one" 

After Jesus had prayed thus to the Father, 
He went forth with His disciples over the brook 
of Cedron, where they entered the garden of 
Gethsemane, and He said to the disciples : Sit 
ye here, while I pray, And He took with Him 
Peter, James and John, the same that were 
with Him at the Transfiguration. And He 
said unto them : My soul is exceeding sorrowful 
even unto death ; tarry ye here, and watch. And 
He went a little farther, and fell on His face, 
and prayed, saying : My Father, if it be pos- 
sible, let this cup pass from Me : nevertheless, 
not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And He came 
to the disciples, and finding them asleep, He 
said unto Peter : "What, could ye not watch 
with Me one hour ? Watch and pray, that ye 
enter not into temptation ; the spirit, indeed, is 



104: HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away 
the second time and prayed, saying : My 
Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, 
except I drink it, Thy will be done. And He 
came and found them asleep again, for their 
eyes were heavy. And He left them, and went 
away again, and prayed the third time, saying 
the same words. While He knelt there, an an- 
gel from heaven came to strengthen Him. In 
the agony of His soul, great drops of blood fell 
to the ground. He bore the sins of a world on 
His shoulders, and its agony in His heart. He 
became a man of sorrows, and endured the 
agony and bloody sweat of Grethsemane, and 
allowed Himself to be strengthened by one of 
the angelic throng, who worshipped Him by the 
express command of God. 

When He rose up from prayer, and found 
His disciples asleep, He said: Sleep on, now, 
take your rest : behold the hour is at hand, and 
the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of 
sinners. Eise up, let us go ; lo ! he that be- 
trayeth Me is at hand. While He spoke, there 
came Judas, and a band of men and officers from 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 105 

the chief priests and Pharisees, with lanterns 
and torches, swords and staves. Judas gave 
them a token, saying : Whomsoever I shall 
kiss, that same is He ; take Him and lead Him 
away safely. And as soon as he was come, he 
goeth to Him and saith : Master, Master, and 
kissed Him. Jesus, knowing all things that 
should come upon Him, went forth and said 
unto them : "Whom seek ye ? They an- 
swered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said 
unto them : I am He. And Judas, which be- 
trayed Him, stood with them. As soon as 
He had said unto them I am He, they went 
backward and fell to the ground. Then askfcd 
He them again : Whom seek ye ? And they 
said : Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered : I 
have told you that I am He ; if, therefore, ye 
seek Me, let these go their way. 

Simon Peter having a sword, drew it and 
smote the high-priest's servant, Malchus, and cut " 
off his right ear. Jesus said unto Peter : Put 
up thy sword into the sheath ; the cup which 
my Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it ? 
Then Jesus touched the servant's ear and healed 



106 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

him, and, turning to the multitudes, he said : Are 
ye come out as against a thief with swords and 
staves? I sat daily with you, teaching in the 
temple, and ye laid no hold on Me ; but this is 
your hour, and the power of darkness. Then 
all the disciples forsook Him and fled. Then 
the band and the captain and officers of the 
Jews took Jesus, and bound Him, and led Him 
away to Caiaphas, the high-priest, where the 
scribes and the elders were assembled. 

Peter and John followed afar off, even unto the 
high-priest's palace, and went in and sat down 
with the servants to see the end. A certain 
maid beheld Peter as he sat by the fire, and 
remarked — This man was also with Jesus. 
But Peter denied it. After a little while another 
person made a like remark, and again Peter 
denied his Lord. About the space of an hour, 
another confidently affirmed that Peter was with 
Jesus ; but again Peter denied it, and while he 
spoke the cock crew. And the Lord turned 
and looked upon Peter : he spoke not, but that 
look pierced the heart of Peter; he thought 
upon the words of the Lord, made in answer to 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 107 

his vehement protestations of fidelity, and he 
went out and wept bitterly. 

The men that held Jesus mocked Him and 
smote Him. And when they had blindfolded 
Him, they struck Him on the face, and asked 
Him, saying: Prophesy who is it that smote 
Thee ? And many other things blasphemously 
spake they against Him. The chief priests and 
all the council sought for a witness against 
Jesus, to put Him to death, and found none. 
Many bore false witness against Him, but their 
testimony did not agree. At last came two 
false witnesses, and said : This fellow said, I am 
able to destroy the temple of God, and to build 
it in three days. 

Then the high-priest arose, and said : Answer- 
est Thou nothing? What is it which these wit- 
ness against Thee ? But Jesus held His peace. 
And the high-priest answered, and said unto 
Him: I adjure Thee by the living God, that 
Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the 
Son of God. Jesus said : I am ; and hereafter 
ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right 



108 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

hand of power, and coming in the clouds of 
heaven. 

Then the high-priest rent His clothes, and 
saith : What need we of any further wit- 
nesses ? Ye have heard the blasphemy : What 
think ye? And they all condemned Him to 
death. Then did they spit in His face, and 
buffeted Him ; and others smote Him with the 
palms of their hands. 

In the morning the chief priests held a con- 
sultation with the elders, and scribes, and the 
whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried 
Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. Pilate 
went out unto them, for they would not come 
into the judgment-hall, and said : What accusa- 
tion bring ye against this man? They an- 
swered : If He were not a malefactor, we would 
not have delivered Him up to thee. Then 
Pilate said : Take ye Him, and judge Him 
according to your law. They answered, that 
it was not lawful for them to put any man to 
death, and, consequently, He must be sentenced 
by the Eoman Governor. Pilate again entered 
the judgment-hall, and called Jesus, and said 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 109 

unto Him: Art Thou the King of the Jews? 
Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this 
world. If My kingdom were of this world, 
then would My servants fight, that I should not 
be delivered to the Jews ; but now is My king- 
dom not from hence. 

Pilate, therefore, said unto Him : Art Thou 
a king, then? Jesus answered: Thou say est 
that I am a king. To this end was I born, and 
for this cause came I into the world, that I 
should bear witness unto the truth. Every one 
that is of the truth heareth My voice. Pilate 
saith unto Him : What is truth? 

It was a custom that the Roman Governor 
should release uiUo the Jews, at the time of 
their great feast, any prisoner whom they chose. 
They had then a robber named Rarabbas. Pilate 
asked them whom he should release, Rarabbas 
or Jesus which is called Christ, for he knew 
that for envy they had delivered Him up. 

When he was sat down on the judgment- 
seat, his wife sent 'unto him, saying : Have thou 
nothing to do with that just man ; for I have 
10 



110 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

suffered many tilings this day in a dream because 
of Him. 

The chief priests and elders persuaded the 
multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and 
destroy Jesus. When Pilate again demanded 
which he should release, they said Barabbas. 
He asked then what he should do with Jesus, 
and they all said, Let Him be crucified. The 
Governor said : Why, what evil hath He done ? 
But they cried out the more, saying, Let Him 
be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could 
not influence the multitude, he took water, and 
washed his hands before them, saying, I am 
innocent of the blood of this just person : - see ye 
to it. Then all the people answered, His blood 
be on us and our children. Then released he 
Barabbas unto them ; and when he had scourged 
Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. 

Then the soldiers led Him away into a hall 
called Pretorium, and they called the whole 
band together. They platted a crown of thorns 
to put on His head, and arrayed Him in a 
gorgeous purple robe, and put a reed in His 
right hand, and then bowed the knee before 



CLOSING- OF HIS MINISTKY. Ill 

Him, and mocked Him, saying: Hail, King of 
the Jews. Pilate then went forth again, and 
said : Behold I bring Him forth to you, that ye 
may know that I find no fault in Him. Then 
Jesus came forth in His royal apparel, the King 
of kings, though wearing a mock crown. 
There was Majesty in every step, and divinity 
beamed in every glance. Oh blind Jews, could 
ye not see it ? 

Pilate said unto them : Behold the man ! But 
they cried out, Crucify Him, Crucify Him. 
Then said Pilate: Take ye Him, and crucify 
Him ; for I find no fault in Him. The Jews 
answered : "We have a law, and by our law He 
ought to die, because He made himself the Son 
of God. When Pilate heard that his fears 
increased ; and he went back to the judgment- 
hall, and said to Jesus, Whence art Thou? 
Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate, 
Speakest Thou not unto me ? Knowest Thou 
not that I have power to crucify Thee and 
power to release Thee ? 

Jesus answered : Thou couldst have no power 
at all against Me, except it were give thee from 



112 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

above : therefore he that delivered Me unto 
thee hath the greater sin. When Pilate heard 
that he sought to release Him, but the Jews 
cried out : If thou let this man go, thou art not 
Caesar's friend. This last argument decided 
Pilate's course, and he brought Jesus forth to 
be crucified, without any further resistance. 
The soldiers smote Jesus upon the head with 
the mock sceptre, took off the purple robe, put 
on His own raiment, and led Him away to be 
crucified. He bearing His cross, went forth to 
His Crucifixion. As they led Him away, they 
compelled one Simon, a Cyrenian that was pass- 
ing by, who came out of the country, to bear the 
cross after Jesus. And there followed Him a 
great company of people, and of women, which 
also bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus 
turned unto them, and said : Daughters of Jeru- 
salem, weep not for Me, but for yourselves and 
your children. 

And they give Him to drink wine mingled 
with myrrh ; but He received it not. 

There were two thieves led with Him to be 
put to death. They crucified Jesus, and these 



THE CRUCIFIXION". 113 

two with Him — one on the right hand, and one 
on the left. Then said Jesus : Father, forgive 
them ; for they know not what they do. 

And they parted His garments, and cast lots 
for His vesture ; for it was without seam, and 
woven from the top throughout. Thus was the 
Scripture fulfilled: They parted My garments 
among them, and upon My vesture did they 
cast lots. 

And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the 
cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF 
NAZAKETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 
This title was read by many of the Jews ; for 
the place of His crucifixion was near the city ; 
and it was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. 
Then the chief priests said to Pilate : Write not 
The King of the Jews ; but that He said, I am 
King of the Jews. Pilate lost all patience with 
this envious, blood-thirsty people, and sent 
back the haughty answer, What I have written, 
I have written. 

Those that passed by reviled Him, wagging 

their heads, and saying : Thou that destroyest 

the temple, and buildest it in three days, save 
10* 



114 HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come 
down from the cross. The chief priests, and 
the scribes and elders said : He saved others, 
Himself He cannot save. If He be the King 
of Israel, let Him now come down from the 
cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in 
God: let Him deliver Him now, if He will 
have Him ; for He said I am the Son of God. 
Even the thieves that were crucified with Him 
cast the same in his teeth. One of the malefac- 
tors said : If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and 
us. But the other rebuked him, and said : Dost 
not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same 
condemnation? and we, indeed, justly ; for we 
receive the due reward of our deeds ; but this 
man hath done nothing amiss. And he said 
unto Jesus: Lord, remember me when Thou 
comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said 
unto him : Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt 
thou be with Me in Paradise. 

By the cross of JesuS stood His mother, and 
His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, 
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, 
saw His mother, and the disciple standing by 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 115 

whom He loved, He saith unto His mother: 
Woman, behold thy son ! Then saith He to 
the disciple : Behold thy mother ! And from 
that hour John, the beloved disciple, took her 
home with him. 

From the sixth to the ninth hour there was 
darkness over the land. About the ninth hour 
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, 
lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, 
my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? Some 
that stood by thought He called for Elias, and 
they said : Let us see whether Elias will come to 
save Him. 

Jesus knowing that all things were now ac- 
complished, said : I thirst ; and they took a 
sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on 
a reed, and gave Him to drink. Here was ful- 
filled the prophecy of the Psalms, They gave 
Me vinegar to drink. When Jesus had re- 
ceived the vinegar, He said : It is finished ; and 
with a loud voice He cried, Father into Thy 
hands I commend My spirit ; and He bowed His 
head, and yielded up the ghost. 

The sun was darkened, the veil of the temple 



116 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, 
and the graves were opened ; and many bodies 
of the saints which slept arose, and came out of 
their graves after His resurrection, and went 
into the holy city, and appeared unto many, 
and the rocks were rent. Now when the Cen- 
turion, and they that were with him watching 
Jesus, saw the earth quake, and those things 
that were done, they feared greatly, saying: 
Truly this was the Son of God. And many 
women were there beholding afar off, which 
followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto 
Him ; among them was Mary Magdalene, Mary 
the mother of James and Joses, and the mother 
of James and John. 

And all the people that came together to that 
sight, beholding the things which were done, 
smote their breasts, and returned. 

The Jews desired Pilate to remove the bodies 
before the Sabbath day, and therefore besought 
him that their legs might be broken. Then 
came the soldiers, and broke the legs of the 
first, and of the other which was crucified with 
Him. 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 117 

But when they came to Jesus, and saw that 
He was dead already, they broke not His legs : 
but one of the soldiers, with a spear pierced His 
side, and forthwith came there out blood and 
water. These things were done that the Scrip- 
ture should be fulfilled : A bone of Him shall 
not be broken. And again, another Scripture 
saith, They shall look on Him whom they 
pierced. 

And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a 
disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the 
Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away 
the body of Jesus : Pilate gave him leave. He 
came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 
Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and 
aloes, about an hundred pounds' weight. They 
took the body of Jesus, and wound it in fine 
linen, with the spices, and laid Him in ,a new 
sepulchre, wherein never was man yet laid ; it 
was hewn out of a rock, and they rolled a 
stone unto the door of the sepulchre and de- 
parted. 

The chief priests and Pharisees came to Pilate, 
saying: Sir, we remember that that deceiver 



118 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

said, while He was yet alive, After three days 
I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the 
sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest 
His disciples come by night, and steal Him 
away, and say unto the people, He is risen from 
the dead : so the last error shall be worse than 
the first. Pilate said: Ye have a watch: go 
your way, make it as sure as yoxi can. So they 
went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the 
stone, and setting a watch. 



THE RESURRECTION". 119 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LOED. 

Upon the first day of the week, very early in 
the morning, Mary Magdalene, and the other 
Mary and Salome, set out for the sepulchre, 
bringing spices to embalm the body of Jesus. 
Mary Magdalene came first, while it was yet 
dark. She saw that the stone was rolled away, 
and supposing that the body of Christ was 
gone, she ran to tell Peter and John. While 
she was gone, Mary the mother of James, and 
Salome, the mother of James and John, came 
to the sepulchre. On their way, they had been 
wondering who would roll the stone away. 
These pious, active women knew that they had 
not strength themselves to roll it away, but this 
did not prevent them from doing their part; 
they did not fold their hands in flespair, but 
prepared their ointments and spices, went at an 



120 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

early hour, and trusted that an ever-watchful 
Providence would provide some way to help 
them in their labor of love. 

And, behold, they found that the stone had 
been rolled away by an angel of the Lord, and 
he sat upon it. An earthquake heralded his 
coming : his countenance was like lightning, 
and his raiment white as snow. And for fear 
of him the keepers did shake, and became as 
dead men. The angel said unto the women : 
Fe'ar not ye ; for I know ye seek Jesus, which 
was crucified. He is not here ; for He is risen, 
as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord 
lay, and go quickly, and tell His disciples that 
He is risen from the dead : and, behold, He go- 
eth before you into Galilee : there ye shall see 
Him. These women, with mingled joy and 
fear, went slowly to tell the disciples ; but Mary 
Magdalene and Peter and John were now on 
their way to the sepulchre. John outran Peter, 
and came first to the sepulchre. He looked in 
and saw the linen clothes, but went not in. 

When Pfeter came he went in, and found the 
linen clothes carefully folded and laid by them- 



THE RESURRECTION". 121 

selves, and the napkin that was about His head, 
was wrapped together in a place by itself. 
John no longer hesitated, but went in. He saw 
at once that the body could not have been car- 
ried away by stealth ; otherwise the burial 
clothes would not have been laid aside with 
such precision and order. He was at once 
convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. 
But as yet neither John nor Peter understood 
from the Scripture that He must rise again. 
They went to their homes — Peter wondering, 
but John believing from the first. 

Mary Magdalene stood without the sepulchre 
weeping. While yet she was weeping, she 
looked into the sepulchre, and saw two angels 
in white, one sitting at the head, and the other 
at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. They 
said unto her : Woman, why weepest thou ? 
She . said : Because they have taken away my 
Lord, and I know not where they have laid 
Him! And when she had thus said, she turned 
back, and saw Jesus standing, and she knew not 
that it was He. Jesus said unto her : Woman, 

why weepest thou ? Whom seekest thou ? She, 
11 



122 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

blinded with, her tears, and overwhelmed with 
her grief, took so little notice of Him, that she 
did not know Him, but supposed He was Jo- 
seph's gardener ; and she said : Sir, if thou have 
borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid 
Him, and I will take Him away. Jesus said 
unto her : Mary. She recognized the voice of 
her Lord, and said unto Him : Eabboni, which 
is to say, Master. She would have held Him 
by the feet, and worshipped Him, but He said : 
Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to 
My Father; but go to My brethren, and say 
unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your 
Father, and to My God and your God ; for as 
He, by taking upon Him their nature became 
their brother, so they, through His death, be- 
came the children of God by adoption. Then 
Mary told the Apostles that she had seen the 
Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto 
her. 

Immediately after this, Jesus met Mary and 
Salome, and He said to them : All hail ! And 
they came and held Him by the feet, and wor- 
shipped Him. Then said Jesus : Be not afraid ; 



THE RESURRECTION. 123 

go, tell My brethren that they go into Galilee, 
and there they shall see Me. 

Then Joanna, and the other women that 
came to assist in embalming the body, came 
to the sepulchre, and finding the stone rolled 
away, they entered, probably expecting to find 
the Marys and Salome there. But great was 
their consternation to find the tomb empty. 
But the sepulchre was not empty ; for there 
were two angels near them with shining gar- 
ments. The women were afraid, and bowed 
their faces to the earth ; but the angels said : 
Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He 
is not dead, but risen ; remember how He spoke 
unto you, when He was yet in Galilee, saying : 
The Son of Man must be delivered into the 
hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the 
third day rise again. And they remembered 
His words, and returned from the sepulchre, 
and told these things unto the eleven, and to 
all the rest. Their words seemed to the Apos- 
tles like idle tales, and they believed them not. 
Then Peter went again to the sepulchre, but 
saw not the risen Lord, neither the angels, only 



124 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the burial clothes, as he saw them before, as 
they had been folded by the angels that minis- 
tered unto Jesus ; and he returned wondering, 
and on his way, probably, at this time saw the 
Lord. 

Two of the disciples went that same day to 
Emmaus, a little village about seven or eight 
miles from Jerusalem. They were talking of all 
these things which had happened. And it came 
to pass, that while they communed and reasoned 
together, that Jesus drew near and went with 
them. But their eyes were holclen, that they 
should not know Him. He asked them what 
manner of communications are these that ye have 
one to another, as ye walk, and are sad ? One 
of them, Cleopas, answered, and said : Art Thou 
only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not 
known the things which are come to pass there 
in these days? And He said: What things? 
And they said : Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, 
which was a Prophet, mighty in deed and word 
before God and the people ; and how the chief 
priests and our rulers delivered Him to be con- 
demned to death, and have crucified Him. But 



THE RESURRECTION. 125 

we trusted that it had been He which should 
have redeemed Israel; and, besides all this, to- 
day is the third day since these things were 
done. And we were astonished by the report 
of certain women of our company, who visited 
the sepulchre early this morning, and found not 
His body, but had seen a vision of angels which 
said that He was alive. 

Jesus said unto them : fools, and slow of 
heart, to believe all that the prophets have 
spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered 
these things, and to enter into glory ? And He 
began at Moses and all the prophets, and ex- 
pounded unto them, in all the Scriptures, the 
things concerning Himself. They drew nigh 
unto the village of Emmaus, and He made as 
though He would have gone further. But they 
constrained Him, saying : Abide with us, for it 
is toward evening, and the day is far spent. 
And He went in to tarry with them. And it 
came to pass, as they sat at meat with Him, He 
took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave 
to them. And their eyes were opened, and they 

knew Him ; and He vanished out of their sight. 
11* 



126 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

And they said, one to another: Did not our 
heart burn within us, while He talked with us 
by the way, and while He opened to us the 
Scriptures ? And they rose up the same hour, 
and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven 
gathered together, and them that weje with 
them, saying: The Lord is risen indeed, and 
hath appeared to Simon. And they told what 
things were done in the way, and how He was 
known of them in breaking of bread. And as 
they spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of 
them, and saith unto them : Peace be unto you. 
They were affrighted, and thought they had 
seen a spirit. But He said unto them: Why 
are ye troubled ? and why do thoughts arise in 
your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, 
that it is I Myself; handle Me, and see, for a 
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me 
have. And when He had thus spoken, He 
showed them His hands and His feet. And 
while they yet believed not for joy, and won- 
dered, He said unto them : Have ye here any 
meat? And they gave Him a piece of broiled 
fish, and of an honey-comb. And He took it, 



THE RESURRECTION". 127 

and did eat before them. And He said unto 
them again : Peace be unto you ; as My Father 
hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when 
He had said this, He breathed on them, and 
said unto them : Eeceive ye the Holy Ghost ; 
whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted 
unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they 
are retained. 

For some reason, Thomas was not with them 
to see Jesus. The other disciples told him they 
had seen the Lord, But Thomas said he would 
not believe it was the Lord, except he could see 
in His hands the print of the nails, and put his 
finger into the print of the nails, and thrust his 
hand into His side. 

In eight days, the next Lord's day, which was 
to take the place of the Jewish Sabbath, in the 
Christian Church, when the disciples were all 
together in a room, and the doors were all shut, 
suddenly Jesus stood in their midst, and said : 
Peace be unto you. And He upbraided them 
with their hardness of heart and unbelief, and 
He said to Thomas : Eeach hither thy finger, and 
behold My hands ; and reach hither thy hand 



128 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and thrust it into My side ; and be not faithless, 
but believing. And Thomas answered and said 
unto Him : My Lord and My God. This could 
not be an exclamation of surprise said to him- 
self; for that would be little short of profaning 
the name of Grod, and in the presence of Jesus, 
which none of us could believe. But St. John 
writes expressly that Thomas said unto Jesus, 
My Lord and my God, by which he plainly 
acknowledges Jesus to be GrOD. Jesus said 
unto him : Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, 
thou hast believed : blessed are they that have 
not seen, and yet have believed. 

He showed Himself again to His disciples on 
the Sea of Tiberias, where He had spent so many 
days with them, and wrought so many miracles. 
Peter and Thomas, and five other disciples, 
went fishing in a ship, and that night they 
caught nothing. When the morning was come, 
Jesus stood on the shore ; but the disciples knew 
not that it was Jesus. He said unto them : Chil- 
dren, have ye any meat? They answered him : 
No. He said : Cast the net on the right side of 
the ship, and ye shall find. They cast, there- 



THE RESURRECTION. 129 

fore, and now they are not able to draw it in 
for the multitude of fishes. John, with his 
great faith, said unto Peter: It is the Lord. 
When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt 
his fisher's coat unto him, and did cast himself 
into the sea. The other disciples came in a lit- 
tle ship, dragging the net with fishes. As soon 
as they came to land, they saw a fire of coals 
there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus 
saith unto them : Bring of the fish which ye have 
now caught. Simon Peter drew the net to land 
full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty-three, 
and for all there were so many the net was not 
broken. Jesus saith unto them : Come and dine. 
And none of the disciples durst ask Him, Who 
art thou? knowing it was the Lord. Jesus then 
cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and 
fish likewise. This was the third time that 
Jesus showed Himself to the disciples after that 
He was risen from the dead. 

When they had dined, Jesus saith to Peter : 
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than 
these ? He saith unto Him : Yea, Lord, Thou 



130 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him : 
Feed My lambs. 

He said to him a second time : Simon, son of 
Jonas, lovest thou Me? He said unto Him: 
Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus 
said unto him : Feed my sheep. He said a third 
time: Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? 
Peter was grieved because the Lord asked Him 
a third time ; he thought, probably, of the night 
of the trial, when he denied the Lord three 
times. He said : Lord, Thou knowest all things — 
Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto 
him : Feed my sheep. Here Peter, in plain 
words, testified that Jesus knew all things — that 
He was omniscient; and we know this is an 
attribute belonging to God alone. 

Shortly after this, the eleven disciples went 
away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus 
had appointed them. When they saw Him they 
worshipped Him ; but some doubted. Here 
Jesus gave them the apostolic commission, and 
spoke unto them, saying: All power is given 
unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, there- 
fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 



THE EESUEKECTI01S". 131 

the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and 
lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
the world. 

Jesus says, All power is given unto Him. If 
all power was given to Him, then was He Om- 
nipotent. There is none omnipotent but God ; 
therefore Jesus must be a person of the God- 
head, and equal with God. 

Jesus said : Baptize all nations in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. Now, if the three did not constitute one 
God, then He would not have said in the name, 
but in the names. 

There is no middle ground — Jesus is either a 
prophet and a man, or the Son of God, and very 
God of very God. If He is man, we have no 
more right to pray to Him, or to ask God to 
grant our prayers for Jesus' sake, than we have 
to pray to Elijah, or to the Virgin Mary. If we 
do not believe in the divinity of Christ, then is 
the name of Christianity a mockery, and the 
name of Christian a mere empty title. 



132 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

But we know that Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of the living God, and that He is our Lord 
and our God ; we know there is salvation in no 
other ; for there is none other name under 
heaven given among men whereby we must be 
saved. Whatsoever we ask of God we know 
we are commanded to ask through the merits 
and intercessions of our blessed Saviour. 

We are baptized because Jesus gave such a 
command; and by baptism we put on Christ, 
we become children of God r and inheritors of 
the kingdom of heaven. But we are to remem- 
ber that if by baptism we become heirs of 
•heaven, we keep the title, or forfeit it, just as 
we keep or break our baptismal vows. 

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the 
presence of the disciples r that are nowhere re- 
corded ; and St. John says, if all the other things 
that Jesus did, which are not recorded, were 
written every one, the world itself could not 
contain the books which should be written. 

Finally, our blessed Lord appeared to • the 
disciples in Jerusalem, having already fully in- 
structed them in the things pertaining to the 



THE RESURRECTION. 133 

kingdom of God: and here Jesus said to His 
Apostles : Behold, I send the promise of My Fa- 
ther upon you ; but tarry ye in the city of Jeru- 
salem, until ye be endued with power from on 
high. 

And now, forty days having passed since the 
Eesurrection, Jesus led His disciples out as far 
as to Bethany. They asked Him if He would at 
that time restore again the kingdom to Israel. 
He said unto them : It is not for you to know 
the times or the seasons which the Father hath 
put in His own power. But ye shall receive 
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in r 
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, 
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. They 
were on Mount Olivet. Jesus lifted up His 
hands and blessed them. And while He blessed 
them He was taken up ; a cloud received Him 
out of their sight, and He ascended into heaven, 
where He now sitteth at the right hand of God. 
And while they looked steadfastly toward hea- 
ven as He went up, behold, two men stood by 

them in white apparel, which said : Ye men of 
12 



134 HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? 
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you 
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye 
have seen Him go into heaven. 

So St. John saith : No man hath ascended up 
to heaven but He that came down from heaven, 
even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. And 
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of Man be lifted ; that 
whosoever helieveth in Him should not perish. 
For God so loved the world, that He gave His 
only begotten Son, that whosoever helieveth in 
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
For' in Him dwelleth all the fulness of 
the Godhead bodily. 

0, Holy Father, we thank Thee, that we have 
been brought to know and to acknowledge the 
great mystery of the eternal Trinity, and in 
the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the 
Unity. We beseech Thee to send Thy Holy 
Spirit to teach the Truth to every heart, that 
the kingdom of God and His Christ may 
everywhere prevail, and that all men may honor 



THE RESURRECTION". 135 

the Soisr even as they honor the Father ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Who liveth 
and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, 
ever one God, world without end. Amen. 



THE END. 



I 



T-*- — -7„~n' 



Nov. 3 18f.fl. 



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J. G. Wood. Copiously Illustrated with Colored and 
other Engravings. $1.00. 

COMMON OBJECTS OF THE SEA SHORE. By the 
same author. With numerous Colored and other Il- 
lustrations. $1.00. 

DASHWOOD PRIORY; or, Mortimer's College Days. 
By Miss May. 75 cents. 

DAWNINGS OF GENIUS. Exemplified in the Early 
Lives of Distinguished Men. 75 cents. 

DONKEY'S SHADOW, and other Stories. 50 cents. 

17 



For Sale oy Daniel Dana, Jr. 



Beautifully Illustrated Juveniles. 

EDA MORTON AND HER COUSINS. By M. Bell. 

63 cents. 
EDGAR CLIFTON. By Charlotte Adams. 75 cents. 

EMIGRANT'S LOST SON (The). 50 cents. 

ESPERANZA; or, The Home of the Wanderers. By 

Miss Bowman. 75 cents. 

EVENINGS AT HOME. The Juvenile Budget Opened. 

75 cents. 
EVERY BOY'S BOOK. A complete Encyclopedia of 

Sports and Amusements. With 600 engravings. $1.50. 

EXTRAORDINARY MEN. Their Boyhood and Early 

Youth. By W. Russell. 75 cents. 

EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN. Their Girlhood and Early 

Days. By W. Russell. 75 cents. 

FOUR SISTERS (The). Patience, Humility, Hope, and 

Love. By Miss Bowman. 75 cents. 

FOREST LIFE. A Fisherman's Sketches in Norway and 

Sweden. By the Rev. Henry Newland. $1.00. 

FRANK WILDMAN'S ADVENTURES ON LAND AND 

WATER. By Gerstacker. $1.00. 

GREAT CITIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. By Rev. 

T. A. Buckley. 75 cents. 

GREAT CITIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES. By same. 

75 cents. 
BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIRDS. 25 cents. 

GREAT WONDERS OF THE WORLD (The). 50 cts. 
HALF HOURS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. Selected and 

arranged by Charles Knight, $1.00. 

HELENA BERTRAM. A Tale for the Young. By Miss 

Bowman. 68 cents. 

HERO, (A.). By the Author of "Olive." 38 cents. 

HISTORICAL TALES. The Great Events of History. 

50 cents. 
HEROINES OF HISTORY. By Mrs. Owen. 75 cents. 
18 



For Sale by Daniel Dana, Jr. 



Beautifully Illustrated Juveniles. 

INFLUENCE. By the Author of " Trap to Catch a Sun- 
beam." 75 cents. 

KANGAROO HUNTERS (The). By Miss Bowman. 

75 cents. 
LAURA TEMPLE. A Book for the Young. By Miss 

Bowman. 50 cents. 

LAURA AND ELLEN; or, Time Works Wonders. By 

Mrs. Allen. 50 cents. 

LILIAN'S GOLDEN HOURS. A Tale. $1.00. 

LITTLE LYCHETTS (The). By the Author of " Olive:' 

50 cents 
LOUDON'S YOUNG NATURALIST'S COMPANION. 

With 35 plates, beautifully printed. 63 cents 

LOUIS'S SCHOOL DAYS. A Story for Boys. By E. J. 

May. 75 cents. 

MATILDA LONSDALE; or, The Eldest Sister. By 

Charlotte Adams. 75 cents 

MINISTERING CHILDREN. A Tale. With 20 illustra- 
tions. Beautiful edition, on tinted paper. $2.00. 
MORE ABOUT JESUS. By the author of " The Peep of 

Bay" etc. 60 cents. 

MORAL TALES. By Madame Guizot. 75 cents. 

MY FEATHERED FRIENDS. By the Rev. J. G. Wood. 

75 cents. 
NATURAL HISTORY. By same. With 500 engravings. 

75 cents. 
POPULAR TALES. By Madame Guizot. 75 cents. 

POETRY BY THE BEST AUTHORS. Selected for the use 

of Schools and Families. By Miss Bowman. 50 cents 
READING MADE EASY. By same. 25 cents. 

RICHMONDS' TOUR IN EUROPE (The). 50 cents. 

ROBINSON CRUSOE. Complete edition. With new type 

and illustrations by Phiz. 75 cents. 

Another fine Edition. 62 cents, 

19 



For Sale oy Daniel Dana, Jr. 



Beautifully Illustrated Juveniles. 

ROBINSON THE YOUNGER; or, The New Crusoe. 
From the German of Campe. 50 cents. 

ROLANDO, THE TRAVELS OF, through Europe, Asia, 
and Africa. By Miss Aikin. 75 cents. 

ROLANDO, THE TRAVELS OF. The second series. A Con- 
tinuation of the above. By Miss Bowman. 75 cents. 

ROYAL PRINCESSES OF ENGLAND, from the Reign of 
George the Third. By Mrs. Matthew Hall. 63 cents. 

SANDFORD AND MERTON. By Thomas Day. 75 cents. 

SAXELFORD : A Story for Boys. By Miss May. 75 cents. 

SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, and their Asso- 
ciations. 75 cents. 

SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES OF ANIMAL LIFE. By 

the Rev. J. G. Wood. First and second Series. Sold sepa- 
rately, each, 75 cents. 

SOLITARY HUNTER (The). By J. Palliser. 50 cents. 

SPIRIT OF THE HOLLY. By Mrs. Owen. 63 cents. 

STORY OF A MOUSE. By Mrs. Perrin. 25 cents. 

SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON ; or, Adventures in a Des- 
ert Island. 75 cents. 

TALES FOR MY CHILDREN. By Madame Guizot. 50 cts. 

TEN MORAL TALES. By Madame Guizot. 50 cents. 

TOUR ROUND MY GARDEN. Translated by the Rev. 
J. G. Wood from the French of Alphonse Karr. $1.00. 

VISIT TO THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 50 cents. 

WATT'S DIVINE SONGS. 25 cents. 

Printed on cloth, 38 cents. 
Sup. edition, 8vo. $1.00. 

WILD SPORTS IN THE FAR WEST. By Gerstacker. 

$1.00. 
WILD AND DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 75 cents. 

YOUNG ARTISTS (The). The Sculptor, the Musician, the 
Engraver, the Painter. 63 cents. 

YOUNG EXILES (The). By Miss Bowman. 75 cents. 

20 



For Sale oy Daniel Dana, Jr. 



Beautifully Illustrated Juveniles. 

THE CHILDREN'S PICTURE GALLERY. With 100 fine 
illustrations, conveying various information. Quarto. $1.50. 

THE CHRISTMAS TREE. A Booh of Instruction and Amuse- 
ment. $1.25. 

ANDERSEN'S (HANS) TALES AND FAIRY STORIES. 
Translated by Madame De Chatelain. 75 cents. 

ARABIAN NIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENTS. $1.50. 

BOY'S OWN STORY BOOK, by the best authors, selected 
by Charles Knight. 75 cents. 

CROWQUILL'S (ALFRED) FAIRY TALES. 75 cents. 

COUNTESS D'AULNOY'S FAIRY TALES. Translated by 
J. R. Planche. $1.50. 

FAIRY GOLD for Young and Old in Eighteen Tales. 
Edited by H. F. Chorlet. 75 cents. 

GRIMM'S HOME STORIES. Translated by M. L. Davis, 

75 cents. 

OLD TALES FOR THE YOUNG. By J. P. Palmer. 

75 cents. 
ORIENTAL FAIRY TALES. 75 cents. 

PLANCHE'S FOUR-AND-TWENTY FAIRY TALES. 

$1.50. 
FAVORITE PLEASURE-BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 

Illustrated with 100 Colored Pictures. $1.75. 

A TREASURY OF PLEASURE-BOOKS FOR YOUNG 
PEOPLE. With 168 Engravings. $1.75. 

THE SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF BARON MUN- 
CHAUSEN. 75 cents. 

POPULAR FAIRY TALES FOR LITTLE FOLKS. With 
60 Illustrations. 75 cents. 

NIGHT CAPS. By the Author of u Aunt Fanny's Christmas 
Stories:- 50 cents. 

NEW NIGHT CAPS. Told to Charley. 50 cents. 

BABY NIGHT CAPS. 50 cents. 

21 



For Sale oy Daniel Dana, Jr. 



THE MINE; or, Darkness and Light. By A. L. O. E., 

authoress of " The Giant Killer," etc, 50 cents. 

OLD FRIENDS WITH NEW FACES. By A. L. 0. E. 

40 cents. 

MARTIN RATTLER. A Boy's Adventures in the For- 
ests of Brazil. By R. M. Ballantyne. With Illus- 
trations. 75 cents. 

STORIES OF AN OLD MAID, Related to her Nephews 
and Nieces. By Madame Emile de Girardin. With 
Sixteen Illustrations. $1.00. 

OLD WONDER-EYES, and other Stories for Children. 
By Grace Greenwood. With Illustrations. 

IQmo., muslin, 50 cents. 

AMY CARLETON; or, First Days at School. 50 cents. 

MEMOIRS OF A DOLL, Adapted from the French. By 
Mrs. Besset. 50 cents 

THE STORY OF AN APPLE. By Lady Campbell. 

50 cents. 

THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. By Thomas Bulfinch. With 

Illustrations. $1.00. 

The Same. With Illustrations in Oil Colors. $1.25. 

THE LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. Written for 
Children. By E. Cecil. With Engravings. 

16?no., 60 cents. 

SEED-TIME AND HARVEST. Tales Translated from the 
German. With Illustrations in Oil Colors. 75 cents. 

A WILL AND A WAY. Tales from the German. With 
Illustrations in Colors. 75 cents. 

THE BRAVE BOY; or, Filial Loye. 

18mo., muslin, 25 cents. 

MAGDALENE AND RAPHAEL. 18wo„ muslin, 25 cts. 

VISIT TO MY BIRTH-PLACE. ISmo., muslin, 25 cents. 

HELEN'S FAULT. ISmo., muslin, 25 eents. 

BEN HOWARD ; or, Truth and Honesty. 

ISmo., muslin, 25 cents. 

22 



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